Breakdown of Duvidei que um só exército tivesse conquistado toda a civilização.
ter
to have
um
one
todo
all / whole
só
only
que
that (conjunction)
o exército
the army
duvidar
to doubt
conquistar
to conquer
a civilização
the civilization
Questions & Answers about Duvidei que um só exército tivesse conquistado toda a civilização.
How exactly is the tense for tivesse conquistado formed in this sentence?
This is the Pluperfect Subjunctive. It is formed using the Imperfect Subjunctive of the auxiliary verb ter (which is tivesse for um só exército, equivalent to the third-person singular) plus the past participle of the main verb (conquistado).
Why do we need the Pluperfect Subjunctive here instead of the regular Pluperfect Indicative (tinha conquistado)?
The verb duvidar (to doubt) strongly triggers the subjunctive. Because the doubting happened in the past (duvidei), and the alleged conquering happened even earlier, we use the Pluperfect Subjunctive (tivesse conquistado) to express this prior, doubted action.
Does só mean 'only' here, and why is it placed before exército?
Why is there an a after toda in toda a civilização?
In Portuguese, to say 'the whole' or 'all of the', you must use todo or toda followed by the definite article (o or a). Without the article, toda civilização would change the meaning to 'every civilization'.
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