Breakdown of Ele escondeu o tesouro para que o dragão não o visse.
não
not / no
ele
he
ver
to see
esconder
to hide
o
him/it (m)
para que
so that
o dragão
the dragon
o tesouro
the treasure
Questions & Answers about Ele escondeu o tesouro para que o dragão não o visse.
What verb is visse and why is it in the imperfect subjunctive?
Visse is the imperfect subjunctive of the irregular verb ver (to see). We use the subjunctive here because of the phrase para que (so that), which always triggers the subjunctive to express purpose or intention. We use the past (imperfect) subjunctive because the main action, escondeu (hid), happened in the past.
How do you form the imperfect subjunctive for an irregular verb like ver?
For most verbs, including irregular ones, you find the imperfect subjunctive by looking at the third-person plural (they form) of the simple past tense. For ver, that form is viram. Drop the -ram and add the imperfect subjunctive endings. For ele/ela/você, the ending is -sse, giving us visse.
Why is the pronoun o placed before the verb in não o visse?
In European Portuguese, object pronouns normally go after the verb. However, certain magnet words pull the pronoun to the front. The negative word não is a strong magnet, so it pulls the direct object pronoun o (which replaces o tesouro) right in front of visse.
Why do we use para que here instead of just para?
We use para que because the subjects of the two halves of the sentence are different. He (ele) is hiding the treasure, but the dragon (o dragão) is the one doing the seeing. When expressing purpose with a change of subject, you must use para que followed by the subjunctive. If he were hiding the treasure so that he himself wouldn't see it, you would use para plus the infinitive: para não o ver.
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