Question 1

Does cujo agree with o animal or dono?

Accepted Answer

It agrees with dono (the thing being owned). Cujo always matches the gender and number of the noun immediately following it, regardless of who the "owner" is. Because dono is masculine singular, we use cujo. If the owner were female, it would be cuja dona, even though the animal is still masculine.

Question 2

Would it be correct to say cujo o dono?

Accepted Answer

No, you must never put a definite article (like o or a) immediately after cujo. Even though Portuguese loves to use definite articles, cujo already has the "the" built into its meaning.

Question 3

In o maltratava, what does the o refer to, and why is it before the verb?

Accepted Answer

The o means "it" (or "him"), referring back to o animal. It is placed before the verb because cujo acts as a "magnet" word. Relative words like cujo pull object pronouns to the front of the verb, rather than attaching them to the end with a hyphen as you would in a normal statement.

Question 4

Why do we use two different past tenses here (resgatou and maltratava)?

Accepted Answer

This sentence perfectly demonstrates how the two past tenses work together! Resgatou is in the Pretérito Perfeito (simple past) because the rescue was a single, completed event. Maltratava is in the Pretérito Imperfeito (imperfect) because the mistreatment was an ongoing, habitual background situation that happened over a period of time before the rescue.

O veterinário resgatou o animal cujo dono o maltratava.

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