Breakdown of O padrinho e a madrinha estão felizes por terem contratado o fotógrafo.
e
and
ter
to have
estar
to be (temporary / location)
feliz
happy
por
through / by / for / because of
contratar
to hire
o padrinho
the best man
a madrinha
the maid of honor
o fotógrafo
the photographer
Questions & Answers about O padrinho e a madrinha estão felizes por terem contratado o fotógrafo.
Why use terem contratado instead of just ter contratado?
This is the Perfect Personal Infinitive. Since the action of hiring was done by two people (o padrinho e a madrinha), the auxiliary verb ter must be conjugated in the "they" form of the personal infinitive, becoming terem. The perfect tense (having hired) shows that the hiring was completed before they felt happy about it.
Why is por used right before the verb?
In Portuguese, the expression for "to be happy for" or "to be happy about" is estar feliz por. Whenever a verb immediately follows a preposition like por, it must take an infinitive form. Here, it triggers the perfect personal infinitive terem contratado to express "for having hired".
Don't padrinho and madrinha usually mean "godfather" and "godmother"?
Yes, they literally mean godfather and godmother! However, in Portuguese culture, couples getting married choose a padrinho and madrinha to be their official witnesses. In an English translation of a wedding context, these roles are closest to the "best man" and "maid of honor".
Why doesn't the past participle change to plural (contratados) to match the two subjects?
When you form compound tenses using the auxiliary verb ter (as in terem contratado), the past participle never changes its ending to agree with the subject. It always stays in the default masculine singular form (contratado), regardless of whether the subject is plural or feminine.
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