Question 1

Why do we use graças a here instead of por causa de?

Accepted Answer

Graças a translates to "thanks to" and is used to introduce a positive or helpful cause. Since the project's success is a good thing, we use graças a. If the cause were neutral or negative, you would use por causa de ("because of").

Question 2

Why does the sentence say graças ao instead of just graças a?

Accepted Answer

The expression graças a ends with the preposition a. Because financiamento (funding) is a masculine noun and we are referring to "the" funding, we need the masculine definite article o. The preposition a and the article o must contract to form ao.

Question 3

Why is foi (preterite) used here instead of era (imperfect) for the word "was"?

Accepted Answer

We use foi, the simple past of the verb ser (to be), because the success of the project is seen as a completed, achieved milestone in the past. If you were describing a continuous background state instead of the final outcome, you would use the imperfect era.

Question 4

How does do investidor translate to "the investor's"?

Accepted Answer

Portuguese does not use an apostrophe-s for possession. Instead, you express it using de (of). Here, de combines with the masculine article o (the) to make do. Literally, the phrase translates as "the funding of the investor".

O projeto foi um sucesso graças ao financiamento do investidor.

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