quê

See also: Appendix:Variations of "que"

Macanese

Etymology

From Portuguese que and quê.

Pronoun

quê

1. (interrogative, sentence-final) what (which thing)

   Tão cedo para quê? Qui afogoso!

   So early for what? So anxious!

Determiner

quê

1. (rare) alternative form of qui: which

   Quê cuza pôde fazê?

   What can be done?

   (literally, “Which thing can be done?”)

References

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈke/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈke/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: quê

Etymology 1

From Latin quem (“what”).

Pronoun

quê

1. (interrogative, sentence-final) what (which thing)

   Pensas no quê? ― What are you thinking about?

Derived terms

• não há de quê
• por quê
• porquê

Noun

quê m (plural quês)

1. a characteristic (distinguishable feature of a person or thing)

Etymology 2

Noun

quê m (plural quês)

2. The name of the Latin script letter Q/q.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letra; á, bê, cê, dê, é, efe, gê / guê, agá, i, jota, cá / capa, ele, eme, ene, ó, pê, quê, erre, esse, tê, u, vê, dáblio, xis, ípsilon, zê

Further reading

• “quê”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “quê”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (Nẫu) quơ (syllable-final /e/ > /əː/)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Vietic *k-veːr (“village”), itself a *k- prefixed derivative of Proto-Vietic *veːr (“to return”) (whence về). Cognate with Muong quêl (“village”) and Chut [Rục] kəveːl¹. Compare also Proto-Katuic *wiil ~ *weel (whence Pacoh veil).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kwe˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kwej˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [wej˧˧]

Noun

quê • (圭, 𬫀)

1. the countryside
2. hometown (place of birth or residence)

   Synonym: nơi sinh

   Tết này có về quê không?

   Will you go back to your hometown this New Year?

3. one's parent's, especially one's father's, birthplace

   Synonym: quê quán

   Quê mày ở đâu ?
   Đắk Lắk ạ.
   Không phải ở đây. Ý tao là quê bố mày.

   Hometown?
   Dak Lak.
   I'm not asking about your birthplace which is here. I'm asking about your father's.

Usage notes

• One's parent's birthplace may be used on an identity card (giấy chứng minh nhân dân or căn cước công dân), especially if they moved from their own birthplace.

Derived terms

• dân quê
• đồng quê
• làng quê
• nhà quê
• quê hương
• quê kệch
• quê mùa
• quê nhà
• quê quán
• thôn quê

Descendants

• → Tày: que

Adjective

quê • (圭, 𬫀)

1. short for quê mùa (“typical of countrymen; rural, lame and tacky”)
2. (Southern Vietnam, by extension) very embarrassing; mortifying

   Mẹ ở nhà đi. Con lớn rồi có mẹ đi cùng thì quê lắm.

   Just stay home. I'm a grown-up and it's embarrassing to be chaperoned by you.

Derived terms

• chọc quê
• quê độ
• quê xệ