Phrase · 🖋️ Rhetoric & literary style
Quem tudo quer, tudo perde.
Grasp all, lose all.
C2proverb: warning against greedlearned as a wholeAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
Quem1pronounwhoeversing.tudo2pronouneverythingmasc. · sing.querverbwantsquerer · present · 3rd sing.,tudo2pronouneverythingmasc. · sing.perdeverblosesperder · present · 3rd sing..
- Quem → quer: quem = subject of quer
- Quem → perde: the same person loses
- tudo → tudo: tudo… tudo: antithesis
Word for word: “Who everything wants, everything loses.”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1«Quem» (whoever) heads a proverb: the timeless present gives it the force of a rule.
- 2Fronted objects (tudo quer, tudo perde) create the rhythm of the antithesis. Figurative language & rhetorical devices →