És tu quem tem a faca e o queijo na mão

Portuguese Questions
1

Great expression this (thanks for the email). I think I’ve worked out why it’s “quem” not “que” (because it comes after a verb). But why is it “quem tem” and not “quem tens”, given that the subject is “tu”?

2

@hancockliphook, in European Portuguese, both quem and que are acceptable in this sentence, as both are relative pronouns. The difference is that quem should generally be followed by a 3rd-person singular verb form, while que should be followed by a verb that agrees with the subject of the sentence.

  • És tu quem tem a faca e o queijo na mão (as if saying “És tu a pessoa que tem a faca e o queijo na mão”)
  • És tu que tens a faca e o queijo na mão
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3

An interesting little wrinkle, which I must try to remember! Many thanks :folded_hands:.

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