que
Portuguese, determiner
que is spelled Q-U-E (3 letters) and appears 27,542 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 4th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Que is a Portuguese determiner meaning “what (used to ask for a specification)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, qué is a different word: “quack (imitative of the sound of a duck)”. With an accent, quê is a different word: “what (which thing)”.
What does que mean in English?
conjunction
- 1
that (connecting noun clause)
- 2
that (introducing the result of the main clause)
Está tão frio que os canos congelaram.
- 3
than (used in comparisons, to introduce the basis of comparison)
O inverno é mais frio que o verão.
- 4
seeing as; since; for; because (introduces explanatory clause)
Espere um pouco que a chuva já vai parar.
- 5
and (indicating the consequences of an action, often threateningly)
Quebre as regras que você será punido.
determiner
- 1
what (used to ask for a specification)
Que livro é esse?
- 2
what a (preceding nouns) (indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)
Que jogador!
adverb
- 1
how (preceding adjectives) (indicates surprise, delight, or other strong feelings)
Que belo!
pronoun
- 1
which; that; who (of those mentioned)
Li uma notícia que era muito desagradável.
- 2
colloquialwhose
- 3
what thing
interjection
- 1
quack (imitative of the sound of a duck)
pronoun
- 1
what (which thing)
noun
- 1
masculinea characteristic (distinguishable feature of a person or thing)
noun
- 1
masculineThe name of the Latin script letter Q/q.
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. quanto, quão grande, qual de
conjunction: 1. introduz orações subordinadas integrantes, consecutivas, causais, temporais, concessivas, finais e coordenadas explicativas
pronoun: 1. o qual, a qual, os quais, as quais, o que, aquilo que, em que, no qual, durante o qual 2. em frases interrogativas, refere-se a pessoas ou coisas
interjection: 1. expressa espanto, surpresa ou descrença
pronoun: 1. quem, qual coisa, quais coisas, onde
noun: 1. nome da décima sétima letra do alfabeto latino, representada pelos símbolos "q", "Q" 2. alguma coisa, algo
noun: 1. nome do fuso horário que está quatro horas a menos do que o Meridiano de Greenwich (UTC−4)
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of que
- q alternative Internet
- q̃ alternative abbreviation obsolete
- quês plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to que
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is que in Portuguese?
que appears 27,542 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).