Breakdown of É de evitar colher qualquer cogumelo silvestre desconhecido.
ser
to be
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
qualquer
any (whichever)
desconhecido
unknown
evitar
to avoid
colher
to harvest
o cogumelo
the mushroom
silvestre
wild (plants, wildlife)
Questions & Answers about É de evitar colher qualquer cogumelo silvestre desconhecido.
How does the phrase é de evitar work here?
This uses the structure ser de followed by an infinitive, which is known as an evaluative impersonal infinitive. It is used to express a general recommendation, rule, or characteristic. Here, é de evitar literally means 'it is of to avoid', but it translates naturally as 'it is to be avoided' or 'one should avoid'.
Why is evitar followed immediately by another infinitive, colher?
The verb evitar (to avoid) links directly to the next verb in the infinitive without needing a preposition like de or a in between. Therefore, evitar colher straightforwardly means 'to avoid picking'.
Both silvestre and desconhecido describe the mushroom. How do we know what order to put them in?
In Portuguese, adjectives generally follow the noun they modify. When there are multiple adjectives, the most classifying or intrinsic one stays closest to the noun. Because silvestre (wild) tells us the fundamental category of the mushroom, it comes right after cogumelo, followed by desconhecido (unknown) which is just an observation about it.
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