Breakdown of O nutricionista mandou que eu bebesse mais água.
eu
I
beber
to drink
a água
the water
mais
more
que
that (conjunction)
o nutricionista
the nutritionist
mandar
to order
Questions & Answers about O nutricionista mandou que eu bebesse mais água.
Why is bebesse used here instead of the normal past tense?
Because this is reported speech reporting a command. The nutritionist originally gave an imperative command (like Beba mais água!). When we report a command after a past tense verb like mandou, that command shifts into the imperfect subjunctive (bebesse).
How is the form bebesse built?
The imperfect subjunctive is always built from the eles form of the simple past. For beber, that form is beberam. You drop the -ram and add the imperfect subjunctive ending. For eu, that ending is -sse, making bebesse.
Why is it O nutricionista when the word ends in an a?
Could I use the infinitive here and say mandou-me beber instead?
Yes! With verbs of commanding or asking (like mandar or pedir), using the infinitive is very common in Portuguese. Saying O nutricionista mandou-me beber mais água means the exact same thing, but this sentence uses que to specifically practice the reported speech backshift.
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