Negation and questions in Portuguese

não — one word does it all

To negate a sentence, put não before the verb:

• Não falo português. — I don't speak Portuguese.
• Não quero café. — I don't want coffee.
• Não é caro. — It's not expensive.
• Não percebo. — I don't understand.

Yes and no are just sim and não — though in real conversation, Portuguese speakers often answer with the verb instead: "Quer café?" → "Quero." (lit. "I want [it]").

Questions — same words, rising voice

Yes/no questions keep normal statement word order — intonation does the work:

• Tem Wi-Fi? — Do you have Wi-Fi? (lit. "It has Wi-Fi?")
• Posso pagar com cartão? — Can I pay by card?
• É longe? — Is it far?

No do/does/did needed, no inversion required — just raise the pitch at the end.

The question words

Three you'll use daily:

porquê vs porque

In Portugal, porque covers both "because" and ordinary "why" questions, while porquê is the standalone / sentence-final "why" — and also the noun "reason":

• porque — "because" AND "why" before a clause: Porque estás triste? (Why are you sad?) · Porque sim. (Just because.)
• porquê — standalone or end-of-sentence "why": Porquê? (Why?) · Não sei porquê. (I don't know why.) · o porquê (the reason)

Brazil commonly distinguishes por que / por quê in interrogative use — you'll see that in Brazilian texts, but this course uses the Portugal convention. (Portuguese also has a legitimate por + que when it means "for which" — as in "o motivo por que…" — a different construction you don't need yet.)

Mini practice