Indirect Questions in Portuguese: Ask More Naturally
An indirect question embeds a question inside a larger sentence: Você sabe onde fica a estação? The embedded clause keeps its normal order.
Real Life Portuguese · 5 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
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.
Add a question inside a polite opener
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.
Você sabe onde fica a farmácia?
Do you know where the pharmacy is?
Pode me dizer que horas o ônibus sai?
Can you tell me what time the bus leaves?
Queria saber quanto custa este bilhete.
I wanted to know how much this ticket costs.
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.
Você sabe se a loja abre aos domingos?
Do you know if the store opens on Sundays?
Pode confirmar se a reserva está no meu nome?
Can you confirm whether the reservation is under my name?
Queria saber se ainda há lugares disponíveis.
I wanted to know if there are still seats available.
Put it into practice
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.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “Do you know if the store opens on Sundays”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
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