Questões

Questões is the plural of questão, a Portuguese noun with several related meanings. Broadly, a questão denotes a matter to be discussed or decided, a problem to be solved, or a question raised for inquiry. In educational contexts, as questões are the items on tests or exercise sets, and resolver as questões means to answer or work through them.

Origin: from Latin quaestio, with influence from the historical evolution through Portuguese, yielding questão and ultimately questões. The term is widely used in both Brazilian and European Portuguese, with subtle stylistic differences but similar core meanings.

Contexts of use: in philosophy and science, questões refer to topics or problems to be investigated; in law and public discourse, questões jurídicas or questões constitucionais denote specific matters requiring resolution; in journalism and social commentary, questões sociais or questões econômicas describe broad areas of concern.

Education and assessment: in exams, questões de prova are the test items, including questões objetivas (multiple choice) and questões dissertativas (open-ended). The action of working through them is often described as resolver as questões, and a collection of items for an exam is called a caderno or conjunto de questões.

Distinction from pergunta: enquanto pergunta typically denotes a direct inquiry, questão emphasizes a matter, problem, or topic that invites discussion or investigation. The terms are related and frequently used interchangeably according to context, but questões carry a broader sense of substantive issues to address.