Breakdown of O facto de a imprensa enfrentar a censura é grave.
ser
to be
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
grave
serious, severe (an illness, a situation)
enfrentar
to face
Questions & Answers about O facto de a imprensa enfrentar a censura é grave.
Why aren't de and a contracted into da before imprensa?
This is a crucial rule in Portuguese. When a preposition like de comes right before the subject of an infinitive verb clause, you cannot contract them. Here, a imprensa is the subject of the verb enfrentar, so the words must stay separate as de a imprensa.
How does o facto de dictate the grammar of this sentence?
In English, we say 'The fact that' followed by a normal conjugated verb. In Portuguese, o facto de requires an infinitive clause. Because there is a specific subject doing the action (a imprensa), we use the Personal Infinitive for the verb enfrentar.
enfrentar looks exactly like the normal infinitive. How do we know it is the Personal Infinitive here?
For the third-person singular, the Personal Infinitive shares the exact same form as the regular impersonal infinitive. We know it is the Personal Infinitive here because it is explicitly tied to a subject (a imprensa). If the subject were plural, you would see the verb change to enfrentarem.
Can this idea be expressed using the subjunctive instead?