Breakdown of Vocês exigem que eles não tenham acesso ao departamento?
não
not / no
vocês
you (pl)
eles
they (m)
ter
to have
a
to / at (direction)
que
that (conjunction)
o acesso
the access
exigir
to demand
o departamento
the department
Questions & Answers about Vocês exigem que eles não tenham acesso ao departamento?
Why is the verb tenham used here instead of têm?
The verb exigir (to demand) expresses a strong wish or command. When we use verbs of wishing, demanding, or requesting followed by que, the next verb must be in the Present Subjunctive. Because you are demanding something of someone else, the normal present tense têm becomes the subjunctive tenham.
How do we get the subjunctive form tenham from the verb ter?
Ter is an irregular verb. To build its Present Subjunctive forms, we start with the 'I' form of the normal present tense, which is tenho (I have). We drop the final -o to get the root tenh-, and then add the subjunctive endings. For eles (they), the ending is -am, giving us tenham.
Why does não go exactly where it is in this sentence?
Why does the sentence use ao instead of just a before departamento?
The noun acesso (access) is usually followed by the preposition a (to). Because departamento is a masculine noun, we must combine the preposition a with the masculine word for 'the', which is o. Together, a plus o becomes the mandatory contraction ao (to the).
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