B1Lesson 4: Relative Clauses & Complex Sentences

Relative pronouns: que, quem, onde, cujo/cuja

Relative pronouns connect clauses by referring back to a noun, with Portuguese using "que" for almost everything, "quem" for people after prepositions, "onde" for places, and the formal "cujo/cuja" for possession, though Brazilian Portuguese strongly favors simpler constructions.

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Que = that, which, who (covers almost everything)

Uses for "que":

People: O homem que chegou (The man who arrived)
Things: O livro que comprei (The book that I bought)
Ideas: A ideia que tive (The idea that I had)
Animals: O cachorro que late (The dog that barks)

Key rule: Can't omit "que" like English omits "that"

English: The book (that) I bought ✓
Portuguese: O livro que comprei ✓
Portuguese: O livro comprei ❌

Common patterns with que:

A pessoa que mora aqui (The person who lives here)
O carro que vendemos (The car (that) we sold)
Tudo que ele disse (Everything (that) he said)
A cidade que visitei (The city (that) I visited)

Relative pronouns: que, quem, onde, cujo/cuja

Related topics

QUE - The Universal Relative Pronoun

Que = that, which, who (covers almost everything)

Key rule: Can't omit "que" like English omits "that"

Common patterns with que: