Breakdown of Limpa o ouro antes de o polir, de forma que brilhe.
limpar
to clean
o
him/it (m)
antes de
before
polir
to polish
o ouro
the gold
brilhar
to shine
de forma que
so that / in a way that (form)
Questions & Answers about Limpa o ouro antes de o polir, de forma que brilhe.
Why does de forma que trigger the subjunctive brilhe here instead of the indicative?
In this sentence, de forma que expresses the purpose or intention behind your action (you are cleaning it in order to make it shine). When de forma que or de modo que introduces a purpose, it requires the subjunctive. If it were describing an actualized consequence as a stated fact (for example, you already cleaned it, and as a result it now shines), it would take the indicative.
Why is the pronoun o placed before the verb in antes de o polir rather than attached to the end?
In European Portuguese, when an infinitive is introduced by a preposition like de (as in antes de), it is very common to place the object pronoun before the verb. While attaching it to the end as antes de poli-lo is grammatically acceptable, putting it before the verb as antes de o polir is highly typical and sounds much more natural in everyday speech.
Why don't we use the personal infinitive for polir here?
Because the subject of both verbs is exactly the same. The person doing the cleaning (Limpa) is the same person doing the polishing. When the subject doesn't change between the main clause and the infinitive clause, you simply use the standard, impersonal infinitive.
In this sentence, is Limpa a command or just the present tense?
It is an affirmative command directed at tu. For regular verbs ending in -ar, the informal imperative takes the exact same form as the third-person singular present indicative. If you were giving this instruction formally to a você, it would change to the subjunctive form, Limpe.
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