Breakdown of Ele quis estudar, mas a frustração destruiu a motivação dele.
ele
he
mas
but
estudar
to study
dele
his (forms: dela, deles, delas)
a
to / at (direction)
querer
to want
destruir
to destroy
a frustração
the frustration
a motivação
the motivation
Questions & Answers about Ele quis estudar, mas a frustração destruiu a motivação dele.
How do the suffixes in frustração and motivação work?
Both end in -ção, which is a high-frequency suffix equivalent to the English '-tion'. It turns verbs into nouns that describe an action, process, or state. Here, the verb frustrar (to frustrate) becomes frustração (frustration), and motivar (to motivate) becomes motivação (motivation). Nouns ending in -ção are almost always feminine, which is why we use the feminine article a before both of them.
Why does this sentence use quis instead of queria for 'wanted'?
This is a great example of how Portuguese splits past tense verbs. Queria (Imperfect tense) is used for ongoing, background, or general desires. Here, quis (Perfect tense) is used because it points to a specific, completed attempt or decision to study in a particular moment, which was then definitively 'destroyed' by his frustration.
Why use a motivação dele instead of a sua motivação for 'his motivation'?
While sua is grammatically correct, it can mean 'your', 'his', 'her', or 'their'. To avoid any confusion, Portuguese speakers very frequently use dele (a contraction of de + ele, meaning 'of him') placed after the noun. This instantly clarifies that the motivation belonged to him.
Why is there an a before frustração, when the English translation just says 'frustration' without 'the'?
In Portuguese, abstract nouns like frustração and motivação usually require a definite article (like a or o) when they are the subject of a clause or when talking about a concept in a general sense. While English drops the article for general ideas, Portuguese strictly requires it.
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