Hi, this is one of my flash cards: Qual a estação do ano depois do outono? Am I correct in thinking there should be the verb ser (é) after qual? Is this a mistake?
@igormashnin1, good question. This is actually not a mistake. In questions that start with “Qual” or “Quais”, the verb ser can generally be omitted at will. You may find both variations of this question type (with and without verb) sprinkled throughout the units and podcasts/shorties 
Thanks for your reply. I think é and a sound the same and Portuguese omit one of them to save time. I am a little surprised they don’t omit the article, but the verb.
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Indeed, only the verb can be omited in this sentence, not the article. É and a actually sound different (and you might have articles other than a), so that’s not the reason for the omission. It is just accepted, in this particular caase, that the meaning and grammatical correctness of the sentence is still complete without the verb
So, if the word after qual was masculine, the sentence would start with Qual o? Interesting. Thanks.
Yes, the article must always agree in gender and number with the respective noun it’s specifying For example:
- Qual a rota mais rápida? (fem. singular) → What is the quickest route?
- Quais os melhores restaurantes? (masc. plural) → What are the best restaurants?
Thanks! This makes Portuguese even more similar to Russian. In Russian the verb is not required.
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