Breakdown of Podem-se ver as lombadas estragadas na estante.
em
in / on / at
ver
to see
poder
can / may (verb)
estragado
broken
a estante
the bookcase
se
one (impersonal)
a lombada
the spine (of a book)
Questions & Answers about Podem-se ver as lombadas estragadas na estante.
Why is the verb plural (podem-se) instead of singular (pode-se)?
In this structure, the pronoun se creates a passive voice. The actual grammatical subject of the sentence is the thing being seen: as lombadas estragadas (the damaged spines). Because the subject is plural, the modal verb poder must be conjugated in the plural as podem to agree with it. It is tempting to translate this literally as the impersonal 'one can see' (which would use the singular), but grammatically, the spines are the subject.
Could I attach the se to the infinitive instead and say podem ver-se?
Yes, absolutely! When you have a verb phrase made of an auxiliary or modal verb plus an infinitive, European Portuguese allows you to attach the clitic pronoun to either verb. Both podem-se ver and podem ver-se are perfectly correct and sound natural.
How would this sentence look if we used the standard passive voice with the verb ser?
Does lombada only refer to the spine of a book?
While it definitely means 'spine' in the context of an estante (bookshelf), lombada is also the standard everyday word for a 'speed bump' on the road. So, depending on context, you might see lombadas estragadas used to complain about broken speed bumps!
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