Breakdown of Digo-lhes que limpem o soalho porque ficou inundado.
limpar
to clean
porque
because
dizer
to say
o
him/it (m)
lhes
to them / to you (plural formal)
que
that (conjunction)
ficar
to become
inundar
to flood
o soalho
the wooden floor
Questions & Answers about Digo-lhes que limpem o soalho porque ficou inundado.
Why use ficou inundado instead of foi inundado?
Using ficar plus a past participle forms the resultative passive. While foi inundado focuses on the action of the flooding taking place, ficou inundado focuses on the resulting state of the floor. It implies the floor ended up flooded and is currently in that wet state, which is exactly why it needs cleaning.
Why is the verb limpar in the subjunctive (limpem) here?
The verb dizer triggers the subjunctive when it is used to give a command or express influence. Here, you are telling them to do something, not just reporting a fact. If you were merely stating a fact, like 'I tell them that they clean the floor well', you would use the indicative: Digo-lhes que limpam bem o soalho.
What is the difference between soalho and chão?
Could I say Lhes digo instead of Digo-lhes?
No, not in Portugal. In European Portuguese, a sentence can never start with an object pronoun. Because the verb is the very first word in the sentence, the pronoun must attach to the end of it.
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