Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O país aceitou o tratado internacional aquando da sua ratificação. - The country accepted the international treaty at the time of its ratification.

O país aceitou o tratado internacional aquando da sua ratificação.

The country accepted the international treaty at the time of its ratification.

Breakdown of O país aceitou o tratado internacional aquando da sua ratificação.

o país

the country

seu

your (formal) / his / her (all forms: seu, sua, seus, suas)

Questions & Answers about O país aceitou o tratado internacional aquando da sua ratificação.

Why do we use aquando da here instead of just quando?

Aquando de is a formal preposition meaning "at the time of". It is used before a noun phrase representing an event, which here is da sua ratificação (where de + a = da). If you used the conjunction quando (when), you would need a full clause with a conjugated verb, such as quando foi ratificado (when it was ratified).

Does the possessive sua in da sua ratificação refer to the country or the treaty?

Contextually, it refers to the treaty. Grammatically, sua (its) just agrees with the feminine noun ratificação. Because Portuguese possessives like seu and sua can mean his, hers, yours, or its, they are often ambiguous. If the context were unclear, a native speaker could specify by saying da ratificação dele to point directly to o tratado.

Is aquando de something I should use in everyday conversation?

No, it is a highly formal expression. You will see it constantly in journalism, history books, and legal or political contexts like this sentence. In a casual chat, you would normally use na altura da (at the time of) or rephrase with quando.

Could the adjective come before the noun, as in o internacional tratado?