Breakdown of Foi o dermatologista quem resolveu o meu problema de acne.
ser
to be
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
quem
who
o problema
the problem
meu
my
o
him/it (m)
resolver
to resolve
a acne
the acne
o dermatologista
the dermatologist
Questions & Answers about Foi o dermatologista quem resolveu o meu problema de acne.
Why use the structure Foi o dermatologista quem... instead of just O dermatologista resolveu...?
This is a cleft sentence, which is a structure that divides a simple sentence into two clauses to provide emphasis. By starting with Foi..., you intensify the statement, strongly emphasizing that it was the dermatologist—and absolutely no one else—who solved the problem.
Could I use que instead of quem in this sentence?
Yes, Foi o dermatologista que resolveu... is also grammatically correct. However, because the emphasized subject is a person, using quem is very common and often preferred in European Portuguese to make the reference feel more precise.
If the subject were plural ("It was the dermatologists who..."), would the verb resolveu change?
It can, but it doesn't have to! If you said Foram os dermatologistas quem..., the following verb can either agree with the plural subject (resolveram) or stay in the third-person singular (resolveu). Both Foram os dermatologistas quem resolveram and Foram os dermatologistas quem resolveu are entirely correct.
Why does it say de acne instead of da acne?
Acne is a feminine noun (a acne), but when we talk about a disease, condition, or material in a broad, general sense, we often drop the definite article after the preposition de. Saying problema de acne treats it as a general medical category rather than a specific, defined instance of the condition.
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