Breakdown of Ele recomendou-me que combatesse a infeção imediatamente.
ele
he
me
me
que
that (conjunction)
recomendar
to recommend
imediatamente
immediately
combater
to combat
a infeção
the infection
Questions & Answers about Ele recomendou-me que combatesse a infeção imediatamente.
Why do we use the imperfect subjunctive (combatesse) here instead of the present subjunctive (combata)?
Because the main verb (recomendou) is in a past tense. Verbs of suggestion like recomendar trigger the subjunctive in the que clause. To maintain the correct sequence of tenses, a past tense in the main clause forces the dependent clause into the imperfect subjunctive. If the sentence were in the present tense (Ele recomenda-me que...), you would use the present subjunctive (combata).
Could I avoid the subjunctive entirely and just use an infinitive here?
Yes, you can! Because the person receiving the recommendation is clearly stated as an object pronoun (-me), you can drop the word que and simply use the infinitive: Ele recomendou-me combater a infeção imediatamente. Both the subjunctive and the infinitive structures are highly natural in European Portuguese.
Since combatesse can be conjugated for 'eu', 'ele', 'ela', or 'você', how do we know it refers to 'I' in this sentence?
We know this from context, specifically the indirect object pronoun -me. Since the advice was given directly to 'me', it is automatically understood that I am the one expected to fight the infection. If he had recommended to me that someone else do it, a pronoun would be necessary for clarity, such as Ele recomendou-me que ela combatesse...
Why is the pronoun attached to the end of the verb (recomendou-me) rather than placed before it?
In European Portuguese, the default rule for affirmative main clauses is to attach the pronoun to the end of the verb with a hyphen (enclisis). To put it before the verb, you would need a 'magnet' word to pull it there. For example, if the sentence were negative, the word não would act as a magnet and change the order: Ele não me recomendou...
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