Breakdown of O astrólogo dar-lhe-á um conselho quando ler o signo.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
quando
when
ler
to read
lhe
to him / to her / to you (formal)
dar
to give
o conselho
the advice
o astrólogo
the astrologer
o signo
the zodiac sign
Questions & Answers about O astrólogo dar-lhe-á um conselho quando ler o signo.
Why is lhe placed in the middle of the verb in dar-lhe-á?
In European Portuguese, when a verb is in the future tense (like dará, meaning "will give") and there is no negative or "magnet" word to pull the pronoun to the front, the pronoun gets inserted between the verb stem (dar-) and the future ending (-á). This splitting of the verb is called mesoclisis. Here, it combines to mean "will give to him".
Where did the accent on the á in dar-lhe-á come from?
The original future tense verb is dará (he will give). When we split it to insert the pronoun lhe, the future ending -á keeps its accent to show that the stress remains on that final syllable, just as it was before we split the word.
Why is the word ler used after quando instead of a present tense verb?
It looks like the basic infinitive, but it is actually the future subjunctive! In Portuguese, when quando (when) introduces an action that hasn't happened yet (like reading the sign in the future), it triggers the future subjunctive. For many verbs, including ler, the future subjunctive happens to be spelled exactly like the infinitive.
Why does the sentence use um conselho when "advice" is uncountable in English?
Unlike in English, the Portuguese word conselho is countable. You can give someone um conselho (one piece of advice) or dois conselhos (two pieces of advice).
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