Breakdown of Naquela aula, a professora explicou tudo devagar.
devagar
slowly
tudo
everything
explicar
to explain
a aula
the class
Questions & Answers about Naquela aula, a professora explicou tudo devagar.
What does naquela mean, and how is it formed?
Naquela is a contraction of em + aquela.
- em = in / on / at
- aquela = that (feminine singular)
So naquela aula literally means in that class/lesson.
This contraction is very common in Portuguese:
- em + o = no
- em + a = na
- em + os = nos
- em + as = nas
- em + aquele = naquele
- em + aquela = naquela
Because aula is feminine singular, aquela matches it.
Why is it naquela aula and not just aquela aula?
Because the sentence needs the idea of in/during that class.
- aquela aula = that class / that lesson
- naquela aula = in that class / during that lesson
In this sentence, the phrase tells you when or in what context the explanation happened, so em is needed, and it contracts to naquela.
Why is aula feminine?