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Para além de sermos rápidos, somos telepáticos.

Para além de sermos rápidos, somos telepáticos.
In addition to being fast, we are telepathic.
From Lesson 451:Clauses of addition (além de)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Para além de sermos rápidos, somos telepáticos.

ser
to be
rápido
fast
para além de
in addition to
telepático
telepathic

Questions & Answers about Para além de sermos rápidos, somos telepáticos.

Why use the personal infinitive sermos instead of the regular infinitive ser?
After the preposition de in Para além de, we need an infinitive. Even though both halves of the sentence share the same subject (we), European Portuguese heavily favors the personal infinitive (sermos) in this structure. It explicitly matches the subject of somos in the main clause, which makes the sentence sound much more natural and precise to native ears.
Is there a difference between Para além de and just Além de?
They mean the exact same thing in this context. You could perfectly say Além de sermos rápidos, somos telepáticos. Adding Para just makes the phrase sound slightly more emphatic, but the meaning and the grammatical requirement for the personal infinitive remain identical.
Why do we use ser (sermos and somos) instead of estar (estarmos and estamos) for being fast?
Using ser implies that being fast and telepathic are inherent, permanent traits of the speakers, much like superheroes or a fantasy species. If they were just running fast temporarily in a specific situation, they would use the verb estar and say Para além de estarmos rápidos.
Does sermos change if the speakers are an all-female group?
The verb sermos stays exactly the same because verbs conjugate for the grammatical person (we), not for gender. However, the adjectives must match the gender of the speakers. An all-female group would need to change the adjectives and say Para além de sermos rápidas, somos telepáticas.

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