Breakdown of O cliente diria que precisa de uma almofada adicional.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
precisar de
to need
o cliente
the client
dizer
to say
o
him/it (m)
que
that (conjunction)
a almofada
the pillow
adicional
additional
Questions & Answers about O cliente diria que precisa de uma almofada adicional.
Why is the verb 'would say' diria instead of dizeria?
Diria comes from the irregular verb dizer (to say). Usually, the conditional tense is formed by adding endings directly to the full infinitive of the verb. However, dizer, fazer, and trazer drop the -ze- from the middle of the word. So, dizer becomes dir-, and we add the -ia ending for the 'he/she' form to get diria.
Why is precisa in the present tense instead of a past or conditional tense?
English speakers often expect the second verb to match the conditional feeling of the first verb (like saying 'The client would say that he needed...'). In Portuguese, if the fact being stated is still true in the current moment, you just use the present tense. Because the client currently needs the pillow, Portuguese uses the present tense precisa.
Why is there a de after precisa?
Since almofada is a feminine word, shouldn't adicional change to end in an 'a'?
Adjectives that end in a consonant like -l (such as adicional, fácil, or possível) are gender-neutral in Portuguese. They keep the exact same form whether describing a masculine or a feminine noun. They only change form when they become plural, which in this case would be adicionais.
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