Breakdown of A propriedade, dentro da qual estamos, é muito espaçosa.
ser
to be
muito
much / very
estar
to be (temporary / location)
dentro de
inside / within (a timeframe)
a propriedade
the property
a qual
which / who (f.sg)
espaçoso
spacious
Questions & Answers about A propriedade, dentro da qual estamos, é muito espaçosa.
Why do we use da qual instead of just que in this sentence?
In Portuguese, when a relative pronoun comes after a multi-syllable preposition like dentro de (inside of), you must use o qual, a qual, os quais, or as quais instead of que. Because que is so short, it is considered too weak to follow longer, heavier prepositions.
Where does the da in da qual come from?
It is a contraction! The full preposition for inside of is dentro de. The relative pronoun we need is a qual. When you combine the de from dentro de with the a from a qual, they naturally merge into da, giving us dentro da qual.
How do I know whether to use do qual or da qual here?
The relative pronoun must always agree in gender and number with the noun it refers back to. Here, it refers to A propriedade (the property), which is feminine and singular. Therefore, we use a qual (which then becomes da qual after the preposition).
Why does this sentence use both estamos and é for the verb to be?
This is a great reminder of the difference between ser and estar! We use estamos (from estar) because it describes our temporary physical location: we are currently inside the property. We use é (from ser) to describe the property itself, because being spacious is a permanent physical characteristic of the building.
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