Um Dos or Uma Das: Say “One of the…” in Portuguese

Keep the selected member and its group visible

Ciberdúvidas on partitive expressions explains expressions that select a quantity from a defined group. The reference was checked on October 21, 2026.

• Esse é um dos pratos do dia. — “That is one of the daily specials.”
• Essa é uma das opções sem cebola. — “That is one of the options without onion.”
• Escolhi um dos horários disponíveis. — “I chose one of the available times.”

Pratos and horários are masculine plural, so these examples use um dos. Opções is feminine plural, so it uses uma das. Dos combines de and os; das combines de and as. The noun after the contraction names the available group, while um or uma selects a single member.

Do not change pratos to singular just because you selected one. The contrast is one dish from several dishes, not one of a group containing only a singular dish. The description after the noun, such as disponíveis, also matches the plural group.

One of the best does not claim a unique winner

• É uma das minhas músicas favoritas. — “It is one of my favorite songs.”
• Foi um dos dias mais tranquilos da viagem. — “It was one of the quietest days of the trip.”
• É a minha música favorita. — “It is my favorite song.”

Uma das favoritas allows several favorites; a minha favorita identifies the favorite in that speaker’s statement. Um dos dias mais tranquilos places a day within a quieter group. It does not tell you the exact ranking of every day.

Keep personal judgements personal. Minhas favoritas describes the speaker’s preferences. It does not establish that an app, restaurant or course is objectively the best. In an ordinary recommendation, say what you liked and for whom an option might work.

Original dialogue: choose one available option

The speaker narrows the group to morning times before selecting ten. The final sentence explains that ten works without claiming it is the only possible time. Rehearse this with two real options and make the chosen member explicit.

A relative clause can describe the group

Ciberdúvidas on um dos que describes plural agreement with the group after que and discusses contexts where singular agreement also occurs. The reference was checked on October 21, 2026.

• Ela é uma das pessoas que trabalham comigo. — “She is one of the people who work with me.”
• Esse é um dos livros que uso na aula. — “That is one of the books I use in class.”
• Uma das opções funciona para mim. — “One of the options works for me.”

In the first example, trabalham describes the people in the group. In the last, funciona belongs to the main subject uma, one selected option. These are different relationships. In livros que uso, eu is the understood subject of uso: the books are what I use, not who uses something.

Start with these clear patterns rather than treating every verb after dos as automatically plural. For the underlying noun connection, compare de, da and do.

Practice: select a member and preserve its group

1. Complete ___ das opções for one option.
2. Repair um dos prato.
3. Translate “one of my favorite songs.”
4. Complete Uma das opções ___ para mim with funcionar in the present.
5. In os livros que uso, who uses the books?

Continue with real conversation practice

Use the food and coffee listening guide for a longer conversation context. The dialogues and exercises here are original written practice. Describe an actual preference or situation with one new pattern, then prepare a follow-up question.

Continue with Real Life Portuguese for native Brazilian audio and everyday expressions. Choose a short exchange available in the app. Listen for the speaker’s intention, then use a pattern from this activity to prepare a reply that fits your own situation. Bruno Lopes is a co-founder of the app.