Quantifiers with relative pronouns (dos quais)

The Perfect Shot

When building a photography portfolio, you will take dozens of shots to get one perfect image. To describe these batches of photos and the editing process, you will often need to combine quantifiers with relative pronouns to say things like "many of which" or "some of which".

"Of Which" (Dos quais / Das quais)

In Portuguese, "of which" is expressed using the preposition de combined with the plural relative pronouns os quais or as quais. This contraction creates dos quais (masculine) and das quais (feminine).

To specify a subset of a group you just mentioned, simply place a quantifier or a number right before it:

• alguns dos quais (some of which)
• muitas das quais (many of which)
• três das quais (three of which)

Both the quantifier and the relative pronoun must agree in gender with the original noun they refer back to.

Feminine Subsets

When referring back to feminine nouns like imagens (images) or fotografias (photographs), use feminine quantifiers (algumas, muitas, várias, duas) followed by das quais.

Masculine Subsets

When referring back to masculine nouns like ângulos (angles) or retratos (portraits), use masculine quantifiers (alguns, muitos, dois) followed by dos quais.