Breakdown of Esta oferta não é nem justa nem inaceitável.
ser
to be
não
not / no
este
this (este, esta, estes, estas)
nem
nor, not even
Questions & Answers about Esta oferta não é nem justa nem inaceitável.
Why do we need não before the verb when nem... nem already means "neither... nor"?
If the nem... nem part came at the beginning of a sentence, would we still need não?
No. If nem... nem comes before the verb (which usually happens when you are connecting two subjects), the não is dropped. For example: Nem a oferta A nem a oferta B são justas (Neither offer A nor offer B are fair). Because our example sentence puts the adjectives after the verb, the não is required.
Both adjectives describe the feminine noun oferta. Why does justa end in 'a' while inaceitável doesn't change?
Adjectives that end in -o change to -a to agree with feminine nouns, so justo becomes justa. However, adjectives ending in -l, like inaceitável or fácil, are uniform, meaning they have the exact same form for both masculine and feminine nouns.
Why do we use é (from the verb ser) instead of está (from estar) to describe this offer?
We use ser because the fairness and acceptability of the terms are seen as inherent, defining characteristics of this specific offer, rather than a temporary state or condition that might change tomorrow.