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Comi todas as amêndoas, exceto as que estão aqui.

Comi todas as amêndoas, exceto as que estão aqui.
I ate all the almonds, except the ones that are here.
From Lesson 338:Replacing nouns with articles (o de, a que)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Comi todas as amêndoas, exceto as que estão aqui.

Why do we use as que instead of aquelas que for 'the ones that'?
In Portuguese, the definite articles (o, a, os, as) frequently act as short demonstrative pronouns meaning 'the one' or 'the ones' when followed by que (that) or de (of/from). While you could grammatically say aquelas que, it is much more natural and common to use as que. Here, as is used because it refers back to the feminine plural amêndoas.
Could I say todas das amêndoas to mean 'all of the almonds'?
No, this is a common trap for English speakers. Unlike English, where you can say 'all of the', Portuguese places todo/toda/todos/todas directly before the definite article and noun without a preposition. You simply say todas as amêndoas (literally 'all the almonds').
Is there a difference between using exceto and menos in this sentence?
They are completely interchangeable here. You will often hear menos as que estão aqui in casual, spoken Portuguese, while exceto is just slightly more formal but still very commonly used.
Why do we use estão rather than são for 'are here'?
Because the verb refers to a physical location (aqui). Even if the almonds might be sitting in a permanent spot, Portuguese almost always uses the verb estar (which handles temporary states and locations) rather than ser to express where a physical object is located.

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