Breakdown of O subgerente decide subcontratar os serviços, salvo se custar demasiado.
decidir
to decide
o serviço
the service
custar
to cost
demasiado
too / too much (excessively)
salvo se
unless
subcontratar
to subcontract
o subgerente
the assistant manager
Questions & Answers about O subgerente decide subcontratar os serviços, salvo se custar demasiado.
How does the prefix sub- change the meaning of gerente and contratar in this sentence?
The prefix sub- indicates being below in a hierarchy or being secondary. A gerente is a manager, so a subgerente is a subordinate: an assistant or deputy manager. For verbs, it implies a secondary action: contratar means to contract, making subcontratar mean to subcontract, which is passing a task down to a secondary party.
Why use salvo se instead of a não ser que for "unless"?
Both phrases mean "unless", but salvo se is slightly more formal and has different grammatical rules. The phrase a não ser que always forces the verb into the present subjunctive. In contrast, salvo se is often followed by the future subjunctive (as seen here) or the indicative, depending on when the hypothetical condition might happen.
What tense is custar in this sentence, and why?
It is in the future subjunctive. The phrase salvo se triggers the future subjunctive when setting a condition that might happen in the future ("unless it costs too much later on"). For regular verbs, this tense happens to look exactly like the infinitive.
Why doesn't demasiado change its ending here?
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