Português - mademoiselle

[mademoiselle]

Olá a todos! I have one question about asking questions.

Why do we sometimes have two ´que´ in one question? Here're two examples:
- O que é que a Makena pensa da escola dela?
- De que é que o Pedro gosta na escola?

I also wanted to ask about the difference between na esquina de and no canto de.

Thanks a lot! Obrigada!

[Luís]

"é que" is just an emphatic expression that you can add to questions:

O que pensa o Pedro?
(what does Pedro think?)

O que é que pensa o Pedro
(what is it that Pedro thinks?)

This became so common, though, that sometimes the version without "é que" even sounds less natural and/or formal.

Both "esquina" and "canto" would be translated as "corner" in English. In general, if you think about an angle, "esquina" would refer to the outside part of it and "canto" to the inside. That is to say, a building has "esquinas" but a room has "cantos".

[mademoiselle]

Muito obragada Luís!