Breakdown of Apesar da flexibilidade, o trabalho independente é exigente.
ser
to be
o trabalho
the work / the job
o
him/it (m)
apesar de
despite
Questions & Answers about Apesar da flexibilidade, o trabalho independente é exigente.
Why is it da in Apesar da flexibilidade instead of just de?
The expression for "despite" or "in spite of" is apesar de. Because the sentence specifically refers to "despite the flexibility," we need the feminine definite article a. When the preposition de and the article a combine, they form the contraction da.
Why is there an o before trabalho if the English translation doesn't say "the independent work"?
In English, we drop the word "the" when talking about general concepts or broad categories like "independent work". In Portuguese, however, general concepts and subjects of a sentence almost always require the definite article (in this case, the masculine o).
Both independente and exigente end in "-e". Do they change if the noun is feminine?
No. Adjectives ending in -e are generally "uniform" adjectives. This means they look exactly the same whether they describe a masculine noun (like o trabalho) or a feminine noun (like a profissão). You only need to change them to add an -s if the noun is plural.
Why use é instead of está for "is demanding"?