Phrase · 📨 Reporting what someone said
Ele quis saber quanto custava o conserto.
He wanted to know how much the repair cost.
B1reporting a questionAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
elepronounhe3rd sing. · subjectquis1verbwantedquerer · past · 3rd sing.saber1verbto knowinfinitivequanto2adverbhow muchcustava2verbcostcustar · imperfect · 3rd sing.odeterminerthemasc. · sing. · definiteconserto3nounrepairmasc. · sing..
- ele → quis: subject
- quis → saber: governs
- saber → quanto: governs
- conserto → custava: subject
Word for word: “He wanted to-know how-much cost the repair.”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1quis saber = wanted to know: a common way to report a question. Quis is irregular. Pretérito perfeito: irregular verbs →
- 2"Quanto custa?" → quanto custava: same word order, verb in the imperfeito. Reported speech I: disse que, perguntou se →
- 3conserto = repair. Don’t confuse it with concerto, a concert.
Variations
- Ele perguntou quanto custava o conserto.
- Ele quis saber quanto ia custar o conserto.
- Ele perguntou o preço do conserto.