Question 1

How would I change this sentence to mean "Buying the palace is such a frivolous caprice"?

Accepted Answer

To apply this lesson's topic, you would use tal (such). You can say Comprar o palácio é tal capricho fútil or ...é um tal capricho fútil. Unlike English, which requires the article ("such a"), Portuguese allows you to drop the um, though keeping it adds a bit more emphasis.

Question 2

Why is comprar used here instead of a gerund for "buying"?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, the impersonal infinitive (comprar) is used when a verb acts as the subject of a sentence. English uses the gerund ("-ing" form) for this, but Portuguese almost never uses its gerund (comprando) as a noun.

Question 3

Is fútil a false friend here? Does it mean "futile" or "doomed to fail"?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is a partial false friend. While it can mean "futile" in the sense of being pointless, it is much more commonly used in Portuguese to mean "frivolous", "superficial", or "shallow". A capricho fútil is a superficial whim, not necessarily a doomed one.

Question 4

What is the plural of fútil if we were talking about multiple whims (caprichos)?

Accepted Answer

The plural is fúteis. For adjectives ending in an unstressed -il, you drop the -l and add -eis. If the final -il were stressed (like in civil), you would just swap the -l for an -s (making civis).

Comprar o palácio é um capricho fútil.

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