Indirect Questions in Portuguese: Ask More Naturally — Practice

Add a question inside a polite opener

An indirect question lets you ask for information as part of a longer sentence. Start with a frame such as você sabe…? (do you know…?), pode me dizer…? (can you tell me…?), or queria saber… (I wanted to know…). Then add the information you need.

Inside the embedded question, keep the ordinary subject-and-verb order. If the direct question is onde fica a estação? (where is the station?), the indirect version is você sabe onde fica a estação?—not a word-for-word inversion copied from English.

Use se for an embedded yes-or-no question

When the information question expects yes or no, use se (whether/if) after the opener. The word se connects the opener to the question; it does not turn the sentence into a conditional in this pattern.

Remember: Keep normal Portuguese word order inside an indirect question, and use se when the embedded question can be answered yes or no. This pattern is useful for polite requests in daily life.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. Do you know where the pharmacy is?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você sabe onde fica a farmácia?

2. Can you tell me what time the bus leaves?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Pode me dizer que horas o ônibus sai?

3. I wanted to know how much this ticket costs.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Queria saber quanto custa este bilhete.

4. Do you know if the store opens on Sundays?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você sabe se a loja abre aos domingos?

5. Can you confirm whether the reservation is under my name?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Pode confirmar se a reserva está no meu nome?

6. I wanted to know if there are still seats available.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Queria saber se ainda há lugares disponíveis.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Keep normal Portuguese word order inside an indirect question, and use se when the embedded question can be answered yes or no. This pattern is useful for polite requests in daily life.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our Indirect Questions in Portuguese: Ask More Naturally lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.