Breakdown of Aquando da reunião, o representante diplomático não disse nada.
não
not / no
a reunião
the meeting
nada
nothing / anything
dizer
to say
aquando de
at the time of
o representante
the representative
diplomático
diplomatic
Questions & Answers about Aquando da reunião, o representante diplomático não disse nada.
What exactly does aquando da mean here, and could I just say durante a?
Aquando de is a formal prepositional phrase meaning "at the time of" or "on the occasion of". Because this sentence is about a diplomatic representative, this elevated, formal register fits perfectly. You could absolutely use durante a (during the) or na (at the) in everyday speech, but aquando da emphasizes the specific occasion in a much more formal, official way. Notice that the preposition de contracts with the feminine article a to become da.
How is aquando de grammatically different from just using quando?
Quando (when) is a conjunction, meaning it must introduce a clause with a conjugated verb (for example: quando a reunião ocorreu - when the meeting happened). Aquando de, however, is a preposition. It must be followed directly by a noun or noun phrase, rather than a verb. Here, it is followed directly by the noun reunião.
Why is the verb disse (Pretérito Perfeito) used here instead of the Imperfeito (dizia)?
The Pretérito Perfeito (disse) is used because the meeting is treated as a single, completed event in the past. Even though "saying nothing" technically spans the entire duration of the meeting, his silence is being reported as one complete, finished historical fact on that specific occasion, rather than an ongoing background description.
The English translation says "said nothing", but the Portuguese uses não disse nada. Is it ever correct to just say disse nada?
No, it would be incorrect here. A good B2 refresher: Portuguese strictly uses double negatives. When a negative word like nada comes after the verb, you must always put não (or another negative word) before the verb to make it grammatically correct. Literally, you are saying "he did not say nothing".
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