Breakdown of Se dividissem a riqueza, a pobreza acabava.
dividir
to share / to divide
acabar
to finish
se
if
a pobreza
the poverty
Questions & Answers about Se dividissem a riqueza, a pobreza acabava.
Why is dividissem used here, and how do we form that ending?
Dividissem is in the Imperfect Subjunctive, which is triggered by se (if) to talk about a hypothetical or unlikely situation. To form it for regular verbs like dividir, you take the simple past tense for they/you all (dividiram), drop the -ram, and add the new ending. For eles/elas/vocês, that ending is -ssem, giving us dividissem.
Why does the sentence use acabava instead of the Conditional tense (acabaria) for "would end"?
In spoken and informal Portuguese, it is extremely common to replace the Conditional tense (acabaria) with the Imperfect Indicative (acabava) when talking about hypothetical results. You could absolutely say a pobreza acabaria, but acabava is what you will hear most native speakers say in everyday life.
Why are there definite articles before riqueza and pobreza when English just says "wealth" and "poverty"?
In Portuguese, you generally must use definite articles (o, a, os, as) before abstract nouns or general concepts. While English drops the "the" for concepts like "wealth" and "poverty," Portuguese keeps the a because both words are feminine nouns.
There is no subject like eles (they) in this sentence. How do we know who is dividing the wealth?