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Foi o pai quem tirou o telemóvel sem eles refilarem.

Foi o pai quem tirou o telemóvel sem eles refilarem.
It was the father who took away the mobile phone without them complaining.
From Lesson 375:Without doing (sem + personal infinitive)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Foi o pai quem tirou o telemóvel sem eles refilarem.

Why do we use refilarem instead of the normal infinitive refilar after sem?
The main action was done by o pai, but the second action belongs to a different subject: eles. Because the preposition sem introduces an action by a new subject, we must conjugate the infinitive to match it. That is why the base verb refilar becomes refilarem.
Could I use que instead of quem after o pai?
Yes, Foi o pai que tirou is also completely correct. This is an emphasis structure meaning 'It was the father who...'. When the emphasized subject is a person, using quem is very common and sounds natural, but que works perfectly fine too.
What is the difference between refilar and other verbs for complaining?
While words like reclamar or queixar-se mean 'to complain' in a general sense, refilar specifically means to talk back, grumble, or protest against an instruction or authority. It is the perfect verb for kids reacting to a parent taking their phone!
Since refilarem already indicates 'they', do we strictly need the word eles?
No, you could just say sem refilarem. The personal infinitive ending already tells us the subject is a plural third party. Including eles just adds a bit of emphasis or ensures absolute clarity in the moment.

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