Breakdown of Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, pode causar problemas.
Questions & Answers about Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, pode causar problemas.
In Portuguese, “apesar de” is a fixed expression that works like a single unit meaning “despite / although”.
- apesar + de + noun:
- Apesar de chuva – Despite rain (more natural: Apesar da chuva)
- apesar + de + verb (infinitive):
- Apesar de ser difícil – Despite (it) being difficult
In this sentence, you have “apesar de” + [clause with an infinitive: “a bactéria ser pequena”], so “de” must be there.
You cannot drop the “de”, so “Apesar a bactéria ser pequena” is ungrammatical.
This is a subtle grammar point that often confuses learners.
- In Portuguese, “de” + “a” (article) normally contracts to “da”:
- de + a casa → da casa
- do = de + o, das = de + as, etc.
But in “apesar de a bactéria ser pequena”, the “a bactéria” is not the object of “de”.
Instead, “a bactéria” is the subject of the infinitive “ser” (“a bactéria ser pequena” = “the bacterium being small”).
Many grammarians of European Portuguese say:
- Do not contract when the “a” goes with the verb (as a subject), not with the preposition “de”.
- So they prefer “apesar de a bactéria ser pequena” (no contraction).
In real life, you will also hear and read “Apesar da bactéria ser pequena”, and many native speakers do contract it.
If you want to be careful and “textbook correct” in European Portuguese, use “de a” (no contraction) in this kind of structure.
Yes, you will hear and see “Apesar da bactéria ser pequena” in real usage, including by native speakers in Portugal.
However:
- Some grammar books and school grammars in Portugal say that “de a” (without contraction) is more correct here, because “a bactéria” is not governed by “de”, but by the verb “ser”.
- In informal speech, many people do not follow this distinction and just contract to “da”.
So:
- Safe/formal choice (school-grammar style): Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena…
- Very common in real life, but sometimes criticized in formal contexts: Apesar da bactéria ser pequena…
You have “apesar de” + infinitive:
- apesar de ser pequena – despite being small
- apesar de chover – despite raining
- apesar de não haver provas – despite there not being proof
In Portuguese, after prepositions (like de, em, por, sem), you normally use the infinitive, not a finite form:
- antes de comer – before eating
- sem dizer nada – without saying anything
So:
- “apesar de ser pequena” (infinitive ser) is the normal structure.
- “apesar de é pequena” is wrong.
If you want to use a finite verb, you need “apesar de que” or a different conjunction:
- Apesar de que a bactéria é pequena, pode causar problemas. (grammatically possible but sounds quite heavy / unusual)
- Much more natural: Embora a bactéria seja pequena, pode causar problemas.
Both are correct, but there’s a nuance:
Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena…
- Explicit subject: “a bactéria” is clearly stated before “ser”.
- Structure: apesar de + [subject] + [infinitive]
- Slightly more explicit/clear, used when you want to stress or introduce “a bactéria” as the topic.
Apesar de ser pequena…
- No explicit subject inside the infinitive clause.
- The subject is understood from context (here: a bactéria).
- More compact, a bit more neutral.
In this particular sentence, both are fine:
- Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, pode causar problemas.
- Apesar de ser pequena, a bactéria pode causar problemas.
The sentence has two parts:
- Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, – concessive subordinate clause (“Although the bacterium is small,”).
- pode causar problemas. – main clause (“it can cause problems.”).
When you place the subordinate clause first, Portuguese normally uses a comma to separate it from the main clause:
- Embora esteja cansado, vou trabalhar.
- Se chover, não saio.
- Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, pode causar problemas.
If you reverse the order, the comma often disappears:
- Pode causar problemas apesar de a bactéria ser pequena.
The subject is still “a bactéria”, from the first part of the sentence.
Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: it can omit subject pronouns when they are obvious from context.
So mentally we have:
- [A bactéria] pode causar problemas.
→ The “a bactéria” is understood and doesn’t need to be repeated.
If you want to make it fully explicit, you can say:
- Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, ela pode causar problemas.
But you don’t have to; the original is perfectly natural.
In Portuguese, definite articles (o, a, os, as) are often used where English would omit “the” or use no article at all.
Here, “a bactéria” refers to a specific bacterium that has already been mentioned or is clearly defined from context.
Compare:
- A bactéria é pequena. – The bacterium is small. (specific)
- Bactérias são pequenas. – Bacteria are small. (general statement about the kind)
If you said:
- Apesar de bactéria ser pequena, pode causar problemas.
this would sound unnatural, because “bactéria” in the singular, without article, is not used like bare “bacteria” in English. For a general statement, you’d more likely say:
- Apesar de as bactérias serem pequenas, podem causar problemas. – Although bacteria are small, they can cause problems.
In Portuguese, adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
- bactéria is a feminine singular noun (it ends in -a and takes a: a bactéria).
- So the adjective must also be feminine singular: pequena.
Examples:
- um vírus pequeno – masculine singular
- uma bactéria pequena – feminine singular
- vírus pequenos – masculine plural
- bactérias pequenas – feminine plural
Both introduce the idea of concession / contrast (something happens even though we might not expect it to).
- apesar de = “despite / in spite of / although”
- embora = “although / even though”
Structures:
apesar de + noun / infinitive
- Apesar de chuva, saímos. – Despite (the) rain, we went out.
- Apesar de ser pequena, a bactéria pode causar problemas.
embora + finite verb (subjunctive)
- Embora esteja a chover, saímos.
- Embora a bactéria seja pequena, pode causar problemas.
So your sentence could also be:
- Embora a bactéria seja pequena, pode causar problemas.
That version is very natural in European Portuguese.
Yes:
- Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, ela pode causar problemas.
This is grammatically correct and clear: “ela” clearly refers to “a bactéria”.
However, in Portuguese you don’t need to repeat the subject pronoun when it is obvious, so the shorter original sentence is more typical:
- Apesar de a bactéria ser pequena, pode causar problemas.
Adding “ela” might be used for emphasis or contrast (e.g. if you are comparing it to something else), but it’s not required.