Breakdown of Embora estivesse a encobrir o que ele fez, a intriga continuou.
ele
he
o que
what
estar
to be (temporary / location)
fazer
to do
continuar
to continue
embora
even though
a intriga
the intrigue
encobrir
to cover up
Questions & Answers about Embora estivesse a encobrir o que ele fez, a intriga continuou.
Why use the continuous form estivesse a encobrir instead of just the simple imperfect subjunctive encobrisse?
Using the continuous subjunctive emphasizes that the action was ongoing in the past (was covering up, rather than just covered up). Because the conjunction embora (even though) requires the subjunctive, we put the auxiliary verb estar into the imperfect subjunctive (estivesse) and follow it with a + the infinitive (encobrir). This is the standard way to form continuous tenses in Portugal.
Why is estar in the past (imperfect) subjunctive here rather than the present subjunctive (esteja)?
The tense of the subjunctive verb has to agree with the timeline of the rest of the sentence. Since the main action happened in the past (continuou - continued), the ongoing action triggered by embora also needs to be rooted in the past, requiring the imperfect subjunctive (estivesse).
Estivesse can refer to eu, ele, ela, or você. How do we know it means I was covering up here?
Without broader context, we actually do not know for sure! Grammatically, it could perfectly translate to Even though she was covering up or you were covering up. The English translation assumes I based on an implied surrounding story. If you needed to be absolutely clear in Portuguese to avoid confusion, you would simply include the pronoun: Embora eu estivesse a encobrir...
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