Breakdown of O telemóvel está estragado, pelo que peço o reembolso.
o telemóvel
the mobile phone
estar
to be (temporary / location)
estragado
broken
pedir
to ask for
o reembolso
the refund
pelo que
therefore / which is why (for which reason)
Questions & Answers about O telemóvel está estragado, pelo que peço o reembolso.
How does pelo que function in this sentence, and how is it different from por isso?
In this sentence, pelo que acts as a conclusive connector meaning "therefore" or "which is why". You could absolutely use por isso here without changing the meaning. However, pelo que is slightly more formal and is very common in written contexts, such as a customer service email requesting a refund.
If pelo que means "therefore", why is it made up of the words pelo and que?
Literally, pelo que translates closer to "for which". The word pelo is the contraction of por (for/by) and o (the/it), and que means "that" or "which". Together, they act as a relative pronoun referring back to the entire previous clause. Think of it as saying, "The phone is damaged, for which [reason] I request the refund."
Why is there no preposition after peço? Doesn't "ask for" need a literal translation?
The Portuguese verb pedir inherently means "to ask for" or "to request". When you are asking for a noun (like o reembolso), you attach it directly to the verb without a preposition. Adding a preposition, like peço por o reembolso, is a common mistake for English speakers and sounds unnatural in Portuguese.
Why do we use está instead of é before estragado?
We use estar because the phone being damaged is a current state or condition that resulted from an event. Using é estragado (with the verb ser) would incorrectly imply that the phone is fundamentally a "damaged-type" object by its very nature, or it would form a passive sentence meaning the phone is routinely damaged by someone.
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