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Apesar de ser muito perigoso, o grupo decide subir a montanha de gelo.

Apesar de ser muito perigoso, o grupo decide subir a montanha de gelo.
Despite being very dangerous, the group decides to climb the ice mountain.
From Lesson 182:Concessive clauses (apesar de)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Apesar de ser muito perigoso, o grupo decide subir a montanha de gelo.

Why do we use the infinitive ser here instead of a word for "being" like in the English translation?
In Portuguese, after prepositions like de (which is part of the phrase apesar de), you must use the infinitive (dictionary) form of the verb. So, "despite being" translates to apesar de ser (literally "despite to be"). You will never use the Portuguese gerund (words ending in -ndo) directly after apesar de.
Why use ser instead of estar for "dangerous"?
We use ser because the mountain is considered inherently and permanently dangerous. Even if the group is only climbing it once, the dangerous nature of an ice mountain is a built-in characteristic, which requires ser.
What does the adjective perigoso agree with? There isn't a masculine singular noun right next to it.
perigoso is in the masculine singular form because it describes the entire action of climbing the mountain, rather than a specific object. When an adjective describes a general idea, a situation, or a whole clause, it always defaults to the masculine singular form.
Why is it decide subir with the second verb in the infinitive?
When you have two verbs in a row where the first verb drives the action of the second, only the first verb is conjugated. Here, decidir (to decide) is conjugated to match the group (decide), and the second verb subir (to climb) stays in its infinitive form.
Why does decide use the singular form if a group consists of multiple people?
o grupo (the group) is a singular collective noun. Even though a group contains many people, the word itself is grammatically singular. Therefore, the verb must also be in the "he/she/it" singular form: decide.
Why is it a montanha de gelo instead of putting the word for ice first?
In English, you can put a noun directly in front of another noun to act as an adjective (like "ice mountain"). In Portuguese, you cannot do this. Instead, you use the formula "Noun + de + Noun". So, "ice mountain" becomes montanha de gelo (mountain of ice).

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