Portuguese Phrase
Quando você a viu?
Meaning
The sentence asks for the specific moment when the listener saw a female person or object. It combines the interrogative adverb ‘quando’ with a past‑tense verb and a direct‑object pronoun, making it a concise way to request a time reference.
When to use
Use this question when you need to know the exact time a person saw a woman, a girl, or any feminine‑gendered object—e.g., after a meeting, at a party, or when recounting an event.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Quandovocêaviu?
Quando (interrogative adverb)
Introduces a question about time; it does not change form for gender or number.
você (subject pronoun)
Second‑person singular pronoun used in most of Brazil; it triggers third‑person verb conjugation.
a (clitic direct‑object pronoun)
Refers to a feminine singular noun (her). In Brazilian Portuguese the pronoun is placed before the verb in the simple past.
viu (pretérito perfeito simples)
Third‑person singular of the verb ver, used for a completed action in the past.
🗨In Conversation
Quando você a viu?
When did you see her?
Eu a vi ontem à noite, depois do jantar.
I saw her last night, after dinner.
✕Common Mistakes
Quando você viu ela?
‘Ela’ is a subject pronoun; after the verb you need the object pronoun ‘a’.
Quando você viu‑a?
In the simple past the pronoun precedes the verb; ‘viu‑a’ is only used in affirmative commands (e.g., ‘Veja‑a!’).
Quando tu a viu?
If you switch to ‘tu’, the verb must be conjugated accordingly (viste). Mixing ‘você’ with ‘viste’ is incorrect.
↔Alternatives
Em que momento você a viu?
At what moment did you see her?
Que horas você a viu?
What time did you see her?
Você a viu quando?
You saw her when?
Cultural Tip
In Brazil, ‘você’ is the default second‑person pronoun, but in the South and some formal contexts ‘tu’ may appear, which would change the verb to ‘viste’. Also, the clitic pronoun stays before the verb in the simple past (pretérito perfeito); placing it after (e.g., ‘viu‑a’) is only correct in affirmative commands or infinitive constructions.