Breakdown of O presidente anunciou a decisão e os jornalistas publicaram-na.
e
and
anunciar
to announce
a decisão
the decision
o presidente
the president
o jornalista
the journalist
publicar
to publish
Questions & Answers about O presidente anunciou a decisão e os jornalistas publicaram-na.
Why is the word for "it" written as -na in publicaram-na instead of just -a?
When a verb ends in a nasal sound, such as the -m in publicaram, the direct object pronouns o, a, os, and as change to start with an "n" (no, na, nos, nas). This makes the transition between the words easier to pronounce. So, publicaram + a becomes publicaram-na.
How do we know to use a feminine pronoun (-na instead of -no) here?
Why is the pronoun attached to the end of the verb (publicaram-na) instead of being placed before it?
In standard European Portuguese, the default rule is to attach the pronoun to the end of the verb. While certain "magnet words" like não (no/not) or que (that) will pull the pronoun to the front of the verb, the connecting word e (and) does not have this pulling effect, so the pronoun stays attached to the end.
What tense are the verbs anunciou and publicaram in?
They are both in the Pretérito Perfeito (the simple past tense), which is used for completed actions in the past. They come from the regular verbs anunciar (to announce) and publicar (to publish).
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