Breakdown of Ninguém lhes está a comprar roupa apertada com este padrão.
estar
to be (temporary / location)
com
with
comprar
to buy
este
this (+ noun)
ninguém
nobody / anybody
lhes
to them / to you (plural formal)
a roupa
the clothes
apertado
tight
o padrão
the pattern
Questions & Answers about Ninguém lhes está a comprar roupa apertada com este padrão.
Why is lhes placed before the verb está?
If we didn't have the negative word Ninguém, where would lhes go in this verbal complex?
Without a magnet word pulling it forward, standard European Portuguese places the pronoun at the very end of this kind of verbal complex. You would attach it to the infinitive verb with a hyphen. For example, if the subject were "He", it would be: Ele está a comprar-lhes roupa apertada.
Why use lhes here instead of os or as for "them"?
lhes is an indirect object pronoun, meaning it represents who the action is done to or for. In this sentence, nobody is buying clothes for them. If you used the direct object pronouns os or as, it would mean nobody is literally buying the people themselves!
Why does the Portuguese sentence use the singular roupa when the English translation says "clothes"?
In Portuguese, roupa is frequently used as a singular collective noun to mean "clothing" or "clothes in general". While you can use the plural form roupas, the singular is very common and natural. Notice that the adjective apertada (tight) is also singular and feminine to match it perfectly.
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