aquelas

The Portuguese word aquelas is a demonstrative pronoun and determiner that translates directly to 'those' in English. It is specifically used for feminine, plural nouns. In Portuguese, demonstratives are highly dependent on spatial and temporal distance relative to the speaker and the listener. The word aquelas is used when the objects or people being referred to are physically distant from both the person speaking and the person listening. This three-tiered system of demonstratives (este/esse/aquele) is a fundamental aspect of Portuguese grammar that often requires practice for English speakers, who only use a two-tiered system (this/that).

Spatial Distance

When you use aquelas, you are pointing to something that is 'over there' (lá or ali). It is not near you, and it is not near the person you are talking to.

Beyond physical space, aquelas is also used to indicate temporal distance. When referring to a time in the past that feels distant or disconnected from the present moment, aquelas is the appropriate choice. For example, when reminiscing about a specific period in your childhood, you would use this word to emphasize the passage of time.

Temporal Distance

Used to refer to weeks, months, years, or eras that are far in the past. It creates a sense of nostalgia or historical separation.

In everyday conversation, native speakers frequently use aquelas to draw attention to specific groups of women, feminine objects, or abstract feminine concepts that are visually or conceptually removed from the immediate context. It acts as a verbal pointer, directing the listener's mental or physical gaze away from the immediate vicinity. This makes it an essential tool for storytelling, giving directions, and describing scenes.

Psychological Distance

Sometimes, aquelas is used to create emotional or psychological distance from the subject, indicating that the speaker does not feel closely associated with the things or people mentioned.

Furthermore, aquelas can function independently as a pronoun, completely replacing the noun if the context makes it clear what is being discussed. For instance, if someone asks which shirts you want to buy, and you point to a rack across the store, you can simply say 'Eu quero aquelas' (I want those), without repeating the word 'camisas' (shirts). This makes speech more fluid and natural.

Understanding the nuance of aquelas is crucial for achieving fluency. It demonstrates a grasp of Portuguese spatial awareness, which is deeply embedded in the language. By mastering when to use aquelas instead of 'estas' or 'essas', learners can communicate with much greater precision and sound significantly more natural to native ears.

Using aquelas correctly in sentences requires understanding its grammatical role as either a demonstrative adjective (determiner) or a demonstrative pronoun. When used as an adjective, it must immediately precede the noun it modifies. The noun must be feminine and plural. For example, 'aquelas casas' (those houses) or 'aquelas mulheres' (those women). The word order is strict; you cannot place the demonstrative after the noun in standard Portuguese syntax.

As a Determiner

It sits directly before the noun to specify exactly which items are being discussed, highlighting their distance from the speakers.

One of the most important aspects of using aquelas is mastering its contractions with common prepositions. In Portuguese, the prepositions 'de' (of/from), 'em' (in/on), and 'a' (to) merge with demonstratives to form single words. This is not optional; it is a mandatory grammatical rule. When 'de' combines with 'aquelas', it becomes 'daquelas'. When 'em' combines with 'aquelas', it becomes 'naquelas'. When 'a' combines with 'aquelas', it becomes 'àquelas' (note the grave accent indicating the crasis).

Contraction with 'De'

De + aquelas = daquelas. Used to indicate origin, possession, or composition regarding distant feminine plural nouns.

When used as a pronoun, aquelas stands alone. It takes the place of the noun entirely. This is incredibly common in comparative sentences or when answering questions to avoid repetition. For example, 'Minhas chaves são estas, não aquelas' (My keys are these, not those). The listener must be able to infer the noun 'chaves' from the context. This usage streamlines conversation and is a hallmark of fluent speech.

Contraction with 'Em'

Em + aquelas = naquelas. Used to indicate location in or on distant feminine plural nouns, or during distant periods of time.

The contraction 'àquelas' (a + aquelas) is often challenging for learners because it requires understanding when a verb demands the preposition 'a'. Verbs like 'assistir' (to watch), 'ir' (to go), or 'referir-se' (to refer to) often require this preposition. Therefore, 'I refer to those women' becomes 'Eu me refiro àquelas mulheres'. The grave accent is a visual cue in writing that the contraction has occurred, though in speech, it sounds identical to the uncontracted 'aquelas'.

Finally, aquelas can be used in idiomatic structures. A very common expression is 'uma daquelas', which translates roughly to 'one of those (bad/crazy/intense) situations'. If someone says 'Hoje foi uma daquelas', they mean 'Today was one of those days', implying it was difficult or chaotic without needing to specify exactly what happened. This shows how demonstratives can take on abstract, cultural meanings beyond simple physical pointing.

The word aquelas is ubiquitous in spoken and written Portuguese. You will hear it constantly in everyday environments, from casual street conversations to formal news broadcasts. Because pointing out objects and referring to distant things is a fundamental part of human communication, demonstratives like aquelas are high-frequency vocabulary. You will frequently hear it in retail environments when customers are pointing out items they want to purchase that are located behind a counter or on a high shelf.

Shopping and Retail

Customers use it to indicate products out of immediate reach, directing the shop assistant's attention to a specific area.

In storytelling and recounting past events, aquelas is an essential tool for setting the scene. Brazilians and Portuguese people love to tell stories, and when they refer back to a specific time in the past, they often use 'naquelas épocas' (in those times) or 'naquelas férias' (on those vacations). This usage helps transport the listener back to the specific moment being described, creating a shared sense of temporal distance.

Storytelling and Nostalgia

Used extensively to refer to past events, establishing a timeline that is clearly separated from the present day.

You will also encounter aquelas in directions and navigation. When someone is giving you instructions on how to find a place, they might point down the street and say 'vire depois daquelas casas amarelas' (turn after those yellow houses). The visual cue combined with the demonstrative makes the instruction clear. In a landscape, it helps differentiate between landmarks that are close and those that are far away.

Giving Directions

Crucial for pointing out distant landmarks when guiding someone through a city or landscape.

In Brazilian slang and informal speech, the expression 'ficar naquelas' is quite common. It means to be in an awkward, unresolved, or uncomfortable situation. For example, if two friends have an argument and don't speak for a while, the situation 'ficou naquelas' (stayed in that weird state). This demonstrates how a simple grammatical word can evolve to carry complex social nuances in everyday interactions.

Finally, in literature and formal writing, aquelas is used to create a sense of grandeur or historical weight. Authors use it to describe sweeping landscapes, distant galaxies, or ancient civilizations. The word inherently carries a sense of expansiveness. By using aquelas, the writer invites the reader to look beyond their immediate surroundings and imagine something vast and distant.

One of the most frequent mistakes English speakers make when learning Portuguese is confusing the three levels of demonstratives: estas, essas, and aquelas. Because English only has 'these' and 'those', learners often use 'essas' and 'aquelas' interchangeably. However, in Portuguese, 'essas' refers to things near the listener, while aquelas refers to things far from both the speaker and the listener. Using 'essas' when you mean aquelas can cause confusion about exactly where an object is located.

Spatial Confusion

Using 'essas' (near the listener) instead of 'aquelas' (far from both) is a classic error that disrupts the spatial logic of the sentence.

Another major stumbling block is the failure to contract prepositions with aquelas. English speakers are accustomed to keeping prepositions separate from pronouns (e.g., 'of those', 'in those'). In Portuguese, writing or saying 'de aquelas' or 'em aquelas' is grammatically incorrect and immediately marks the speaker as a beginner. You must train your brain to automatically form 'daquelas' and 'naquelas' whenever these prepositions precede the demonstrative.

Ignoring Contractions

Failing to merge prepositions like 'de' and 'em' with 'aquelas', resulting in clunky and incorrect phrasing.

Gender and number agreement is a persistent challenge. Because aquelas is feminine and plural, it must only be used with feminine plural nouns. Learners sometimes use it with masculine nouns (which require 'aqueles') or singular feminine nouns (which require 'aquela'). For instance, saying 'aquelas carro' or 'aquelas mulher' is incorrect. The entire noun phrase must agree in gender and number, a concept that requires constant vigilance for native English speakers.

Agreement Errors

Mismatches in gender or number between the demonstrative and the noun it modifies.

A more subtle mistake involves the use of the grave accent (crase) in 'àquelas'. When a verb requires the preposition 'a' (like 'ir a' - to go to), and the destination is modified by 'aquelas', the two 'a's merge. Many learners forget to write the accent, writing 'a aquelas' or simply 'aquelas' without the accent. While this doesn't change the pronunciation, it is a significant spelling error in written Portuguese and shows a lack of understanding of the underlying grammar.

Finally, overusing demonstratives when definite articles would suffice is a common stylistic error. In English, we might say 'Look at those birds' when simply pointing them out. In Portuguese, while 'Olhe para aquelas aves' is correct, sometimes native speakers will just use the definite article if the context is obvious: 'Olhe as aves'. Overusing aquelas can make speech sound slightly unnatural or overly emphatic when simple identification is all that is needed.

To fully grasp aquelas, it is essential to compare it with its direct counterparts in the Portuguese demonstrative system. The most immediate alternatives are 'estas' and 'essas'. While all three translate to 'these' or 'those' in English, their usage in Portuguese is strictly governed by proximity. Understanding this triad is the key to mastering Portuguese spatial grammar.

Estas vs. Aquelas

'Estas' refers to feminine plural objects that are close to the speaker (these right here). Aquelas refers to objects far from both speaker and listener (those over there).

The distinction between 'essas' and aquelas is often the trickiest for English speakers. 'Essas' is used for objects that are near the listener, or for things that have just been mentioned in conversation. Aquelas is reserved for things physically distant from both parties, or temporally distant in the past. If you are talking to a friend holding some books, you say 'essas revistas' (those magazines you have). If the magazines are on a table across the room, you say 'aquelas revistas'.

Essas vs. Aquelas

'Essas' is near the listener (those by you). Aquelas is far from both (those over there).

Another alternative, though less direct, is the use of definite articles ('as') combined with a descriptive phrase. Instead of saying 'aquelas casas', you could say 'as casas ali' (the houses over there). While this conveys the same meaning, using the demonstrative aquelas is generally considered more elegant and concise. However, in very informal spoken Brazilian Portuguese, you might hear people rely more heavily on articles and pointing rather than precise demonstratives.

Using Articles as Alternatives

Replacing 'aquelas' with 'as' + location adverb (e.g., as ... lá).

In formal or literary contexts, you might encounter the word 'tais' (such). While not a direct synonym for spatial distance, 'tais' can replace aquelas when referring back to previously mentioned feminine plural nouns in a more elevated register. For example, 'tais atitudes' (such attitudes) instead of 'aquelas atitudes' (those attitudes). This substitution changes the tone of the sentence, making it sound more academic or formal.

Finally, it is important to remember the masculine equivalent, 'aqueles'. Whenever the noun changes gender, the demonstrative must change as well. If you are talking about a mixed group of masculine and feminine objects or people, Portuguese grammar dictates that the masculine plural 'aqueles' takes precedence. You would only use aquelas if the entire group consists exclusively of feminine nouns.