Breakdown of Dei por mim a considerar o perito incompetente.
a
to / at (direction)
por
through / by / for / because of
dar
to give
mim
me (after prepositions)
considerar
to consider
incompetente
incompetent
o perito
the expert
Questions & Answers about Dei por mim a considerar o perito incompetente.
Dei por mim translates to "I caught myself". Is this a fixed expression?
Yes, the phrase dar por followed by a pronoun (like mim, ti, or si) means to suddenly notice or realize something about yourself, usually catching yourself in the middle of an action. It is heavily used in Portuguese and is typically followed by a plus an infinitive to show the ongoing action you caught yourself doing.
Why isn't there a verb like "ser" (to be) or a word like "como" (as) before incompetente?
This highlights the Object Complement (Predicativo do Complemento Direto). Verbs of judging or evaluating, such as considerar, achar, and julgar, directly link the direct object (o perito) to the adjective describing your conclusion about it (incompetente). You do not need words like ser or como to make this connection.
If I changed the word order to a considerar o incompetente perito, would it mean the same thing?
No, the meaning would change entirely. If incompetente acts as a normal adjective attached to the noun, you are just talking about an "incompetent expert" who already has that reputation before the action even starts. In our sentence, incompetente is the object complement: it is the direct result of your evaluation. You evaluated the expert, and your specific conclusion was that he is incompetent.
Could I use the gerund here and say Dei por mim considerando?
Yes. Although European Portuguese strongly prefers a plus the infinitive for ongoing actions, the expression dar por plus a pronoun is one of the situations where the gerund (considerando) is also perfectly correct and naturally used by Portuguese speakers, especially in slightly more formal or literary contexts.
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