Breakdown of Durante o ciberataque, a rede foi desligada até se encriptar tudo.
ser
to be
tudo
everything
até
until
desligar
to switch off
durante
during
a rede
the network
se
one (impersonal)
encriptar
to encrypt
o ciberataque
the cyberattack
Questions & Answers about Durante o ciberataque, a rede foi desligada até se encriptar tudo.
Why is the pronoun placed before the verb in até se encriptar instead of after it?
This is the core rule of your current lesson. When an infinitive follows certain prepositions like para, por, sem, or até, the preposition acts as a magnet and pulls the clitic pronoun before the verb. This is why we must say até se encriptar rather than até encriptar-se.
What is the exact function of the word se in this sentence?
It acts as the passive se. While the provided English translation uses the active gerund form encrypting, the Portuguese phrasing translates closer to until everything was encrypted. Using the passive se allows the speaker to describe the encryption process without having to name the hackers or the IT system performing it.
Why use the preterite foi desligada instead of the imperfect estava desligada?
Using foi desligada highlights the specific action of someone actively disconnecting the network in response to the attack. If you used the imperfect estava desligada, it would describe a background state, meaning the network was already offline before the cyberattack even began.
Why does tudo come at the very end of the sentence instead of before the verb?
In Portuguese, placing the subject after the verb is very common with the passive se structure. You could say até tudo se encriptar, and in that case, the word tudo would also act as a magnet pulling the pronoun. However, leaving tudo at the end sounds extremely natural, and the preposition até is already doing the job of pulling the pronoun anyway.
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