Breakdown of Graças a este atributo, o herói é imune ao frio.
ser
to be
a
to / at (direction)
este
this (este, esta, estes, estas)
o frio
the cold
o herói
the hero
graças a
thanks to
imune
immune
o atributo
the attribute
Questions & Answers about Graças a este atributo, o herói é imune ao frio.
Why does the sentence use ao frio instead of just a frio?
The adjective imune strictly requires the preposition a to introduce the thing you are immune to. This fixed pairing is its regência nominal (adjective regime). Because frio is acting as a specific noun here ("the cold") rather than an adjective, the preposition a contracts with the masculine definite article o to create ao.
Could I use por causa de instead of graças a in this sentence?
Is graças a also an example of regência nominal?
Yes! While the current lesson focuses on adjectives, regência nominal (nominal regime) actually covers the fixed prepositions required by nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Here, the noun graças dictates that the preposition a must follow it, exactly like the adjective imune does.
Why use é imune (verb ser) rather than está imune (verb estar)?
We use ser here because the immunity is an inherent, permanent characteristic of the hero (an atributo). If someone were only temporarily immune to a disease because of a recent vaccine, you would use estar imune to highlight that it is a temporary state.
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