Question 1

Why do we use ficou here instead of foi if the English translation is just 'was crushed'?

Accepted Answer

Using ficou (from the verb ficar) forms the resultative passive. While foi esmagado would focus purely on the action or event of the crushing happening in the past, ficou esmagado emphasizes the resulting physical state or condition that the roof was left in after the tree fell on it.

Question 2

Does the past participle esmagado agree with the subject or the thing doing the crushing?

Accepted Answer

In passive constructions with ficar (and ser), the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject receiving the action. Here, esmagado is masculine singular to agree with o telhado (the roof), ignoring the feminine gender of uma árvore.

Question 3

Why is the preposition por used here?

Accepted Answer

The preposition por (meaning 'by' in this context) is used to introduce the agent of the passive. Whenever you want to specify who or what performed the action that resulted in the current state, you use por. Here it simply sits next to uma as por uma.

Question 4

Is enorme one of those adjectives that can go before the noun?

Accepted Answer

Enorme generally means 'huge' or 'enormous' whether it comes before or after the noun. However, placing it after the noun (uma árvore enorme) is the standard, objective way to describe its physical size. Placing it before the noun would be grammatically correct but would just add a slightly more poetic or emotional emphasis to the size.

O telhado ficou esmagado por uma árvore enorme.

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