Breakdown of Como a entrada é ilegal, o polícia convenceu-se de que nós éramos responsáveis pela degradação.
ser
to be
nós
we
pelo
for the
a entrada
the entrance
que
that (conjunction)
como
since / as (causal)
responsável
responsible
o polícia
the police officer
ilegal
illegal
convencer-se de
to convince oneself of
a degradação
the degradation
Questions & Answers about Como a entrada é ilegal, o polícia convenceu-se de que nós éramos responsáveis pela degradação.
Why is there a de before que in convenceu-se de que?
The reflexive verb convencer-se (to convince oneself) is always followed by the preposition de. Unlike in English, when you add a full phrase starting with que (that), Portuguese forces you to keep that preposition. This gives us convenceu-se de que instead of just dropping the preposition before que.
Why is it o polícia and not a polícia?
Can I use porque instead of como at the beginning of the sentence to mean 'since' or 'because'?
Why use the imperfect tense éramos instead of the past perfect fomos?
We use the imperfect tense éramos because being responsible was an ongoing state or characteristic at that moment in the past. If you used the past perfect fomos, it would sound like being responsible was a single, finished action with a clear start and end, which doesn't fit the context of bearing blame for property damage.
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