Breakdown of O fundador acabou de confessar o fracasso por causa da crise.
a crise
the crisis
acabar de
to have just (done something)
confessar
to confess
por causa de
because of (due to)
o fundador
the founder
o fracasso
the failure (lack of success)
Questions & Answers about O fundador acabou de confessar o fracasso por causa da crise.
Why do we use por causa da here instead of graças à?
Why is it por causa da instead of just por causa de?
The base prepositional phrase is por causa de, but the preposition de must merge with the definite article ("the") of the noun that follows it. Because crise (crisis) is a feminine noun, it uses the article a. When de and a combine, they contract into da.
How does acabou de confessar translate to "has just confessed"?
In Portuguese, the structure acabar (to finish) + de + an infinitive verb (like confessar) is used to express that an action just happened. While it literally translates to "finished to confess," it is the standard, everyday way to express the recent past ("has just done something").
Could I use the word falha instead of fracasso for "failure" here?
You could, but it changes the tone slightly. Fracasso implies a complete, overall failure, like a business collapsing or a project totally falling apart. Falha is usually smaller in scale, translating closer to a "flaw," "glitch," or "mistake."
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