Breakdown of Por má que seja a situação, ele tenta outra piada.
ser
to be
ele
he
por
through / by / for / because of
mau
bad / ill, unwell
outro
other
que
that (conjunction)
tentar
to try
a situação
the situation
a piada
the joke (funny remark)
Questions & Answers about Por má que seja a situação, ele tenta outra piada.
Why do we use the subjunctive seja after por má que?
The structure por + adjective + que translates to 'no matter how [adjective]' or 'however [adjective]'. It sets up a concession, meaning a condition that might be true but doesn't change the main outcome. Because it introduces a hypothetical idea or a concession rather than a straightforward fact, it triggers the subjunctive mood. Here, seja is the present subjunctive of ser.
Could I use mal here instead of má?
No, because you are describing a noun (a situação), so you need an adjective. Má is the feminine singular form of the adjective mau (bad). Mal is an adverb (badly) or a masculine noun (evil), and does not change form to agree with feminine nouns. This concessive structure requires an adjective that agrees in gender and number with the subject.
Why is the subject a situação placed after the verb seja?
In Portuguese, it is extremely common to invert the subject and the verb in subordinate clauses, especially right after the word que. While you could technically say por má que a situação seja, putting the verb before the subject sounds much more natural and provides better rhythm in European Portuguese.
Why is it just outra piada and not uma outra piada?
In English, we say 'another' which is a combination of 'an' plus 'other'. This often tempts learners to use uma outra in Portuguese. However, the words outro and outra already mean 'another' all by themselves. Adding uma before them is usually redundant and omitted in natural speech, unless you want to heavily emphasize 'one other'.
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