quê

See also: Appendix:Variations of "que"

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈke/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈke/

• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: quê

Etymology 1

From Latin quem (“what”).

Pronoun

quê

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

   Pensas no quê?

   You are thinking about what?

   Quê?

   What?

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)

1. cue (name of the letter Q, q)

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *k-veːr (“village”); 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˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [wej˧˧]

Noun

quê • (圭, 𬫀)

1. countryside; the country, rural area
2. birthplace

   Synonym: nơi sinh

3. hometown; place one is originally from; hometown of one's ancestors, usually considered in the male line

   Synonym: quê quán

   Tết này có về quê không?

   Will you go back to your hometown this New Year?

Derived terms

Derived terms

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

 

Adjective

quê • (圭, 𬫀)

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

Derived terms

Derived terms

• quê độ
• quê xệ