Learn Portuguese (Portugal): É pena que as pessoas poluam muito o oceano. - It's a pity that people pollute the ocean a lot.

É pena que as pessoas poluam muito o oceano.

It's a pity that people pollute the ocean a lot.

Breakdown of É pena que as pessoas poluam muito o oceano.

Questions & Answers about É pena que as pessoas poluam muito o oceano.

Why do we use poluam instead of the normal present tense poluem here?

The phrase É pena que (It's a pity that) is an expression of opinion or feeling. In Portuguese, these types of impersonal expressions trigger the subjunctive mood in the following verb. That is why we use the subjunctive form poluam instead of the regular present tense.

The English translation says 'It's a pity'. Why isn't there a word for 'a' in the Portuguese sentence?

You can actually say either É pena or É uma pena. Both are perfectly natural and mean exactly the same thing. Portuguese speakers frequently drop the word uma (a) in this specific expression.

How do we build this subjunctive form poluam from the verb poluir (to pollute)?

To make the present subjunctive, you usually start with the normal 'I' form of the present tense: eu poluo. You drop the final -o, and add the subjunctive endings. Because poluir is an -ir verb, its subjunctive endings use the letter a. For as pessoas (which acts as 'they'), the ending is -am, giving us poluam.

Why does muito come before o oceano? Can I put it at the end of the sentence like in English?

In Portuguese, adverbs like muito (a lot) usually go right after the verb they are describing. Putting the adverb between the verb and the object (poluam muito o oceano) sounds much more natural to a Portuguese speaker than putting it at the very end of the sentence.