In lesson 9 of the Relative Pronouns unit, “entre as quais a de” supposedly translates to “including”. The full example sentence is, “As medidas foram alargadas a todas as regiões, entre as quais a de Lisboa.” The translation is, “The measures were extended to all regions, including Lisbon.” I get that “entre as quais” means “among which”. But I don’t understand the “a de” part. I would have guessed “foi” if I were trying to say something like this in Portuguese. How do I know when to use “a de”? Can someone help me make sense of it? Thanks!
@glb, “a de” is short for “a região de”, i.e., a reference to the first part of the sentence, but without repeating the noun, since the context is already established. A more literal translation would be something like this:
- “entre as quais a de Lisboa” = “among which that of Lisbon”
Since the region’s name is explicitly stated, “a de” is not required; it would’ve been enough to simply say “entre as quais Lisboa”. But if the region were to be referenced indirectly, instead of by its actual name, you would need some kind of connector, whether that’s “a de” or something else. Some examples:
As medidas foram alargadas a todas as regiões….:
- …entre as quais [a [região] de] Lisboa (direct reference - optional connector)
- …entre as quais a [região] da capital (indirect reference - mandatory connector)
- …entre as quais a [região] do António (indirect reference)
- …entre as quais aquela [região] onde vivo (indirect reference)
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