Breakdown of Felizmente, o diretor decidiu não prolongar a reunião porque já estava a ser uma chatice.
ser
to be
não
not / no
um
a / an / some (all forms)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
decidir
to decide
a
to / at (direction)
a reunião
the meeting
o diretor
the director
porque
because
já
already
o
him/it (m)
a chatice
the annoyance
felizmente
fortunately
prolongar
to extend
Questions & Answers about Felizmente, o diretor decidiu não prolongar a reunião porque já estava a ser uma chatice.
The current lesson is about exceptions to subjunctive emotion triggers, like ainda bem que. Does felizmente follow a similar rule?
Yes! Just like ainda bem que, the adverb felizmente expresses an emotion (relief or happiness) but is followed by the indicative mood. If you rephrased this as Ainda bem que o diretor decidiu..., the verb decidiu would still be in the indicative. You generally only trigger the subjunctive for this kind of emotion with impersonal expressions that use 'que', such as É uma sorte que....
Why use the continuous past estava a ser instead of just era to say 'it was'?
Estava a ser emphasizes that the meeting was actively dragging on and being annoying right up until the moment the director stopped it. While era uma chatice is grammatically fine to describe the meeting in general, using estar a ser highlights the ongoing, temporary feeling of frustration experienced by the attendees in that specific moment.
I know the adjective chato means boring or annoying. Is uma chatice used the exact same way?
Why is the negative word não placed right before the infinitive prolongar instead of before the main verb decidiu?
The placement changes the meaning entirely. Decidiu não prolongar means he actively made a decision, and that decision was not to extend the meeting. If you said Não decidiu prolongar, it would mean he did not make a decision to extend it (perhaps he forgot or remained undecided). The negative word always goes immediately before the specific action it negates.
Learn Felizmente, o diretor decidiu não prolongar a reunião porque já estava a ser uma chatice and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free