Breakdown of A pá é essencial para desenterrar os fragmentos.
ser
to be
para
to / for
essencial
essential
desenterrar
to unearth
a pá
the shovel
o fragmento
the fragment
Questions & Answers about A pá é essencial para desenterrar os fragmentos.
Why do we use the uninflected infinitive desenterrar here instead of a personal infinitive?
Because the action is general. We are stating a general fact about the shovel's purpose. If you wanted to specify exactly who is doing the unearthing, you would conjugate it into the personal infinitive, such as para desenterrarmos (for us to unearth) or para desenterrarem (for them to unearth).
Since this lesson covers até, could we use até instead of para in this sentence?
Why do we need the preposition para before the verb?
In Portuguese, when an infinitive expresses a purpose or objective, meaning "in order to", it must be preceded by para. English often just uses "to" (essential to unearth), which can sometimes trick learners into dropping the Portuguese preposition.
Is there an easy way to remember the meaning of desenterrar?
Why does a short word like pá require an accent mark?
Monosyllabic (one-syllable) words in Portuguese that end in an open a, e, or o require an acute accent to show that the vowel is open and stressed. This also helps distinguish it in spoken Portuguese from unstressed short words, such as the informal reduction of para (often pronounced as "pa").
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