Breakdown of Cada eleitor apoiar-te-ia na eleição.
em
in / on / at
a
to / at (direction)
te
you (informal object)
apoiar
to support
cada
each
o eleitor
the voter
a eleição
the election
Questions & Answers about Cada eleitor apoiar-te-ia na eleição.
How exactly is the word apoiar-te-ia formed?
This is an example of mesoclisis (putting the pronoun in the middle of the verb), which is required for the conditional and future tenses in European Portuguese. You take the full infinitive verb apoiar (to support), insert the pronoun te (you), and finish with the conditional ending for "he/she/it", which is ia. So, apoiar + te + ia becomes "would support you".
Why is the pronoun te in the middle of the verb instead of before it?
In European Portuguese, certain words act as "magnets" that pull the pronoun before the verb (proclisis). However, the word cada (each/every) is an exception and does not act as a magnet. Since there is no magnet word to pull te to the front, it must attach to the verb. Because the verb is in the conditional tense, it splits open to take the pronoun in the middle.
If I changed cada eleitor to todos os eleitores, would the pronoun placement change?
Why do we say na eleição instead of just em eleição?
In Portuguese, you almost always need a definite article before specific events or nouns. Na is the mandatory contraction of the preposition em (in) and the feminine singular article a (the). So you are literally saying "in the election".
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