Breakdown of Foi a médica quem te recomendou aplicar este sérum?
ser
to be
quem
who
a médica
the doctor (f)
este
this (este, esta, estes, estas)
te
you (informal object)
recomendar
to recommend
aplicar
to apply (a rule, substance)
o sérum
the serum
Questions & Answers about Foi a médica quem te recomendou aplicar este sérum?
How does the structure Foi ... quem change the feel of this sentence compared to just asking A médica recomendou-te...?
It adds emphasis! Using Foi (It was) followed by quem (who) creates what is called a cleft sentence. It intensifies the focus on the subject (a médica) to clarify exactly who did the action. It is the Portuguese equivalent of asking "Was it the doctor who...?" rather than just "Did the doctor...?".
Could I use que instead of quem here, since it translates to "who" or "that"?
Yes, you could say Foi a médica que te recomendou..., and it is very common. However, when emphasizing a specific person in this type of structure, using quem is highly natural in Portugal and adds a slightly stronger, more precise focus on the identity of the person. Keep in mind that if the subject were an object rather than a person, you would have to use que.
Why is the pronoun te placed before the verb (te recomendou) instead of after it (recomendou-te)?
The word quem acts as a "magnet" for pronouns. Because quem is a relative pronoun, it forces the object pronoun (te) to move before the conjugated verb (a rule known as proclisis). If you didn't have the emphatic Foi... quem structure, the sentence would start with the subject and require a hyphen: A médica recomendou-te....
Why is aplicar in the infinitive here? Doesn't the verb recomendar usually trigger the subjunctive?
The verb recomendar triggers the subjunctive when you connect it with the word que (for example, A médica recomendou que tu aplicasses...). However, when you already specify the person receiving the advice using an indirect object pronoun like te, you can follow it directly with the infinitive aplicar. This avoids the subjunctive entirely and is a very common, concise shortcut at the B2 level!
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