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Ela quer ter sucesso, mas ninguém lhe explica o plano.

Ela quer ter sucesso, mas ninguém lhe explica o plano.
She wants to have success, but nobody explains the plan to her.
From Lesson 90:Indirect object pronouns (me, te, lhe)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Ela quer ter sucesso, mas ninguém lhe explica o plano.

Why is lhe placed before the verb (lhe explica) instead of after it with a hyphen (explica-lhe)?
In European Portuguese, object pronouns usually come after the verb. However, certain words act like magnets and pull the pronoun in front of the verb. Negative words like ninguém (nobody), não (no/not), and nunca (never) are strong pronoun magnets. Because of ninguém, the pronoun is pulled to the front: ninguém lhe explica.
Does lhe always mean "to her"?
Not always! lhe is the indirect object pronoun for the third-person singular. It replaces the person receiving the action. It can mean "to her", "to him", or "to you" (when speaking formally using você). In this sentence, we know it means "to her" because the first half is about Ela (She).
Why does the sentence use ter sucesso instead of a single verb for "to succeed"?
While English has the specific verb "to succeed", Portuguese usually expresses this idea with the phrase ter sucesso, which literally translates to "to have success". You conjugate the verb ter to match the subject.
Does ninguém always take a singular verb like explica?
Yes. Just like in English where we say "nobody explains" (singular) rather than "nobody explain" (plural), the Portuguese word ninguém always takes the third-person singular verb conjugation.

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