Question 1

Why is the pronoun se placed before ignorar instead of attached to the end?

Accepted Answer

The preposition por acts as a pronoun magnet (a trigger for proclisis). When an infinitive is used with prepositions like por, para, sem, or até, any attached pronoun is pulled to the front of the verb. Therefore, we say por se ignorar instead of por ignorar-se.

Question 2

What is the exact role of se in por se ignorar?

Accepted Answer

It acts as the passive or impersonal se. It indicates that the action of ignoring was done by an unspecified person. While the literal translation is "for ignoring," a much more natural English equivalent is "because the second breach was ignored."

Question 3

Why use por plus an infinitive here instead of a conjunction like porque?

Accepted Answer

Using por followed by an infinitive is a very common and elegant way to express a cause or reason in Portuguese. You could absolutely say porque se ignorou (because it was ignored), but por se ignorar is highly typical, especially in written or technical contexts like discussing a security brecha (breach).

Question 4

Is ignorar here just the basic dictionary form of the verb?

Accepted Answer

It is actually the personal infinitive conjugated for the third-person singular to match the passive subject, a segunda brecha. It just happens to look identically to the dictionary form in the singular. If the noun were plural, the verb would change to match it: por se ignorarem as segundas brechas.

O vírus malicioso entrou por se ignorar a segunda brecha.

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