Breakdown of Esta é a propriedade luminosa, sobre a qual nós falámos ontem.
ser
to be
nós
we
falar
to speak
este
this (+ noun)
ontem
yesterday
sobre
about, on (a topic)
a propriedade
the property
a qual
which / who (f.sg)
luminoso
bright
Questions & Answers about Esta é a propriedade luminosa, sobre a qual nós falámos ontem.
Why do we use a qual here instead of just que?
In Portuguese, when you use a preposition with more than one syllable (like the two-syllable sobre), you must follow it with o qual, a qual, os quais, or as quais rather than the simple relative pronoun que. Since the noun we are referring back to (propriedade) is feminine and singular, we use a qual.
Could I express "about which" using a shorter preposition in this sentence?
Why does falámos have an accent mark on the second "a"?
In European Portuguese, this accent mark is crucial because it tells us the verb is in the past tense. The accented nós falámos means "we spoke", whereas the unaccented nós falamos means "we speak" in the present tense.
Is esta related to the word propriedade even though they are separated in the sentence?
Yes. Esta means "this" (feminine singular) and acts as a demonstrative pronoun here. It must match the gender and number of the noun it introduces, which is the feminine singular a propriedade.
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