O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente; no entanto, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

The tech world is growing fast; however, unemployment still worries many people.

Breakdown of O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente; no entanto, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

• ainda: still
• rapidamente: quickly
• preocupar: to worry
• crescer: to grow
• o mundo: the world
• o desemprego: the unemployment
• no entanto: however
• tecnológico: technological
• muita gente: many people

Questions & Answers about O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente; no entanto, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

Why does the sentence start with O mundo tecnológico instead of just Mundo tecnológico? Do we always need the article o?

In European Portuguese, you normally use the definite article (o, a, os, as) much more than in English.

• O mundo tecnológico = the technological world / the world of technology
• Saying just Mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente sounds incomplete or like a headline.

You usually omit the article only in titles, headlines, labels, or very telegraphic style. In normal sentences, you say:

• O mundo está a mudar. – The world is changing.
• A tecnologia avança depressa. – Technology advances quickly.

So here o is natural and required in standard prose.

Why is it mundo tecnológico and not tecnológico mundo? Can adjectives come before the noun?

The default order in Portuguese is noun + adjective:

• mundo tecnológico – literally world technological
• carro novo – new car
• cidade grande – big city

Adjectives can come before the noun, but that usually adds a stylistic or emotional nuance and is less neutral:

• o tecnológico mundo would sound poetic, unusual, or emphatic, not standard everyday phrasing.

So mundo tecnológico is the normal, neutral order.

The verb cresce is in the simple present. Does it mean grows or is growing?

Portuguese presente do indicativo covers both English simple present and present continuous depending on context.

• O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente.
  = The technological world grows rapidly.
  or more naturally: The technological world is growing rapidly.

If you really want to emphasize the ongoing process, you can say:

• O mundo tecnológico está a crescer rapidamente. (EP style)
• O mundo tecnológico está crescendo rapidamente. (Brazilian style)

But the simple cresce already works very well for the general idea of “is growing (these days)”.

Why is it rapidamente and not rápido? Are both correct?

Rapidamente is the regular adverb form, built from the adjective rápido + -mente:

• rápido (adjective) → rapidamente (adverb)
  rápido crescimento – rapid growth (adjective)
  cresce rapidamente – grows rapidly (adverb)

You might also hear:

• cresce rápido – more informal, especially in Brazilian Portuguese.
• In European Portuguese, a very common everyday adverb is depressa:
  • O mundo tecnológico cresce depressa. – The technological world is growing fast/quickly.

In your sentence, rapidamente is perfectly correct and a bit more neutral/formal than rápido used adverbially.

What is the role of the semicolon (;) before no entanto? Could we just use a comma or a full stop?

The semicolon connects two closely related independent clauses:

• O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente; no entanto, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

You could also write:

• With a full stop:
  O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente. No entanto, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.
• With a simple mas and a comma:
  O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente, mas o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

So:

• ; no entanto = more formal / written style, showing a contrast.
• , mas = more informal and very common in speech.
• A full stop + No entanto = also correct, slightly more detached between the ideas.

The semicolon is a stylistic choice, not a grammatical obligation.

What exactly does no entanto mean, and how is it different from mas, entretanto, or porém?

No entanto is a linking expression meaning roughly however / nevertheless. It introduces a contrast with what came before.

Near-synonyms:

• mas – but; the most common, neutral conjunction.
• no entanto – however; sounds more formal or written.
• porém – very similar to no entanto, also formal/literary.
• entretanto – can mean meanwhile or however, depending on context; in EP often has a “in the meantime” flavor.

In your sentence:

• O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente; no entanto, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

You could replace no entanto with:

• mas – more informal:
  O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente, mas o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.
• porém – same level/formality:
  O mundo tecnológico cresce rapidamente; porém, o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

In o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente, which word is the subject of preocupa? Is it o desemprego or muita gente?

Grammatically, the subject is o desemprego:

• o desemprego (subject, singular)
• preocupa (verb, 3rd person singular, agrees with o desemprego)
• muita gente (direct object = the people who are worried)

So the structure is:

• O desemprego (unemployment) preocupa (worries) muita gente (many people).

The meaning in English is closer to “Unemployment still worries many people”.
English tends to say “People worry about unemployment”, but Portuguese here keeps unemployment as the grammatical subject.

Why is it preocupa muita gente and not something like muita gente se preocupa com o desemprego? Are both possible?

Both structures are possible, but the focus changes:

1. O desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente.

   • Subject = o desemprego.
   • Focus on unemployment as a problem affecting many people.

2. Muita gente ainda se preocupa com o desemprego.

   • Subject = muita gente (“many people”).
   • Focus on the people and their state of mind.

Your original sentence chooses structure (1), highlighting unemployment as the worrying factor. Grammatically, both are correct; it’s mainly a question of emphasis and style.

Why does muita gente take a singular verb in Portuguese, even though it means many people?

The noun gente is grammatically singular and feminine in Portuguese, even when it refers to many people.

• Esta gente é estranha. – These people are strange.
  (gente = singular; é = singular verb; estranha = feminine singular adjective)

In your sentence, gente is not the grammatical subject, but if it were, you’d still use singular:

• Muita gente se preocupa com o desemprego.
  (se preocupa, not se preocupam)

If instead you use pessoas, then the verb agrees in plural:

• Muitas pessoas se preocupam com o desemprego.

So: gente = singular in grammar, plural in meaning.

What does ainda add in o desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente? Could we put it somewhere else in the sentence?

Ainda here means still (or yet), implying that something continues to be true, possibly contrary to expectations.

• O desemprego preocupa muita gente. – Unemployment worries many people.
• O desemprego ainda preocupa muita gente. – Unemployment still worries many people.

The usual position is before the verb:

• ainda preocupa, ainda existe, ainda há.

Other possible positions:

• O desemprego preocupa ainda muita gente. – correct but more formal/emphatic.
• Ainda o desemprego preocupa muita gente. – unusual; sounds literary or marked.

The natural everyday choice is exactly what you have: ainda preocupa.

Why is there no preposition before muita gente? In English we say “worries many people”, but I might expect a muita gente.

In Portuguese, preocupar is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object with no preposition:

• Isto preocupa muita gente. – This worries many people.
• A situação preocupa os trabalhadores. – The situation worries the workers.

If you change to a reflexive structure, then you need a preposition:

• Muita gente se preocupa com o desemprego.
  (Many people worry about unemployment.)

So:

• preocupar alguém – worry someone (direct object, no preposition)
• preocupar-se com algo – worry about something (reflexive + com)