Breakdown of Apesar da crise, o ministro explicar-lhe-ia a economia antes da eleição.
a
to / at (direction)
explicar
to explain
o
him/it (m)
lhe
to him / to her / to you (formal)
antes de
before
o ministro
the minister
a crise
the crisis
apesar de
despite
a eleição
the election
a economia
the economy
Questions & Answers about Apesar da crise, o ministro explicar-lhe-ia a economia antes da eleição.
How exactly is explicar-lhe-ia formed?
This is an example of mesoclisis, where the pronoun lhe is inserted into the middle of the verb. It is required here because formal Portuguese uses it for the future and conditional tenses when a pronoun cannot go before the verb. You take the infinitive explicar, add a hyphen, insert the indirect object pronoun lhe (to him), add another hyphen, and finally attach the conditional ending ia.
Could I just say explicaria-lhe instead?
Why do we use the pronoun lhe instead of o?
The verb explicar (to explain) takes a direct object for the thing being explained (a economia) and an indirect object for the person receiving the explanation. The pronoun lhe is the indirect object pronoun meaning to him, to her, or to you.
Why do we see da in both apesar da crise and antes da eleição?
The fixed phrases apesar de (despite) and antes de (before) both end with the preposition de. Because crise and eleição are specific feminine nouns here, they use the definite article a. The preposition and article combine to form da.
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