cujo

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sujɔ]

Verb

cujo

1. third-person singular present of cuś

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese cujo, from Latin cuius, a genitive of quī (“which”) which had been used adjectivally since at least the time of Plautus. cp. Ancient Greek ποῖος (poîos), both from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.ʒu/

• Hyphenation: cu‧jo

Determiner

cujo (feminine cuja, masculine plural cujos, feminine plural cujas)

1. whose (of whom)

   A miúda cujos cabelos são negros é bonita

   The girl whose hair is black is beautiful.

Usage notes

In Brazil, this word is considered formal and is not generally used in casual, colloquial conversation. The relative pronoun que (“that”; here ungrammatical), or an attributive rephrasing, will commonly be used instead.

• A menina cujos olhos são verdes.

  The girl whose eyes are green.

• *A menina que os olhos são verdes.

  The girl that's eyes are green. (literally, “*The girl that the eyes are green.”)

• A menina de olhos verdes.

  The green-eyed girl. (Grammatical cujo-avoiding rephrasing.)

Further reading

• “cujo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “cujo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025