What does CADÊ mean?

In this post, you'll learn how to use the word cadê and where it came from.

Have you ever heard Brazilians asking a question using the word cadê?

Cadê is an extremely popular word in Brazil. It's used in colloquial conversation and Brazilians use it when they want to express Where
is...? and Where are...?.

Let's see some examples:

Let's suppose you are looking for your mobile phone. You could say, using the verb estar:

Onde está o meu celular?

but it's very common for Brazilians to say in this situations:

Cadê o meu celular?

Now let's see an example in the plural:

Onde estão as minhas chaves? / where are my keys?

You could say:

Cadê as minhas chaves?

When using cadê, you don't have to worry about conjugating the verb estar.

It replaces Onde está...? and Onde estão...?

So, you might be wondering the origin of cadê. It comes from the old O que é de…? which means something like What has become of...?

One thing that it's important to note here is that it is is normally used for people or objects that can move around as we've seen in the examples
It's not an alternative for Onde é…? or Onde fica...? which are used for things that have a fixed place.

Categories: : Vocabulary