Breakdown of As raparigas maravilham-se com as barbatanas azuis ao pé do recife.
a rapariga
the girl
azul
blue
ao pé de
next to / near
maravilhar-se com
to marvel at
o recife
the reef
a barbatana
the fin
Questions & Answers about As raparigas maravilham-se com as barbatanas azuis ao pé do recife.
Why do we need the pronoun se in maravilham-se, and why is the preposition com used instead of something like a for "at"?
The verb maravilhar-se is an inherent pronominal verb, meaning it always requires a reflexive pronoun (like se) to mean "to marvel" or "to be amazed". Every verb dictates its own prepositional regime, and for maravilhar-se, the required preposition is always com. We literally say the girls marvel "with" the blue fins.
Could we place the pronoun before the verb and say As raparigas se maravilham?
In this specific sentence, no. European Portuguese strongly prefers placing the pronoun after the verb (enclisis) in affirmative main clauses. Because As raparigas is a simple subject and there are no "magnetic" words (like negative words, certain adverbs, or conjunctions) to pull the pronoun to the front, maravilham-se is the only correct placement here.
Does ao pé do literally mean "at the foot of the"?
Literally, yes, but in everyday Portuguese, ao pé de is a highly common fixed expression that simply means "next to", "close to", or "near". In this sentence, ao pé do recife just means "next to the reef", without implying the reef actually has a foot.
Why is it do recife instead of just de recife after ao pé?
The expression ao pé de requires the preposition de. Because we are talking about a specific reef (the reef), we need the masculine singular definite article o. The preposition de and the article o must contract to form do (de + o).
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