Quem é? & Qual é?

Pay attention to the way that Brazilians use who, and which.

They use these two a bit differently than we do.

Quem é?

Who is it? Quem é?
That's what you say before opening the door or when a stranger calls on the telephone. But quem also means whom. In Portuguese there is just, quem.

É de quem? ➜ Who's is it?

Or, Who does it belong to? Notice that they don't actually say "it". That's because the é literally means it is.
Being more specific,

Esse casaco é de quem? ➜ Who's jacket is this?

Quem está falando? ➜ Who's speaking?

Quem é esse cara? ➜ Who is this guy?

Qual é?

Which is it?
In Portuguese which is often used in place of what. Like this:
Qual é seu nome?

Brazilians never say "o que é seu nome?" They always use qual: Which is your name?
Qual is used for both what and which!

De qual cidade você é? ➜ What city are you from?

Qual andar? ➜ Which floor?

Qual dia você vai chegar? ➜ What day are you arriving?

Qual é a differença? ➜ What's the difference?

Qual é o nome dela? ➜ What's her name?

Qual é sua idade? ➜ How old are you?

Você sabe qual voo? ➜ Do you know which flight?

» From our online Portuguese course.

🧐 Did you know? ☞ quem and qual are part of a group of words called Interrogative Pronouns (question words). They're used to interrogate! Others include: como, onde, quando, por que, quanto, & o que {who, what where, when why etc...}.

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