Breakdown of Organizamos o evento para que o voluntário arrecade um donativo maior.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
organizar
to organize
o evento
the event
o voluntário
the volunteer
maior
bigger
o donativo
the donation
para que
so that
arrecadar
to raise
Questions & Answers about Organizamos o evento para que o voluntário arrecade um donativo maior.
Why is arrecade in the subjunctive here?
The phrase para que (so that / in order that) is a conjunction of purpose, and it always triggers the subjunctive. Because it introduces a goal or intention rather than a guaranteed fact, the verb arrecadar (to collect/raise) must change to its present subjunctive form, arrecade.
Wait, arrecadar is an -ar verb. Why does it end in an 'e' in arrecade?
In the present subjunctive, regular verbs swap their usual indicative endings. Verbs ending in -ar take -e endings, while verbs ending in -er and -ir take -a endings. Therefore, the third-person singular (he/she/it) form of arrecadar becomes arrecade.
Could organizamos also mean "We organized" in the past tense here?
No, and the spelling tells us why! In European Portuguese, the past tense nós (we) form of -ar verbs takes an acute accent on the 'a' (organizámos) to distinguish it from the present tense. Because there is no accent here (organizamos), we know for certain it is the present tense: "We are organizing".
Does arrecadar always mean "to raise", like raising money?
It specifically means "to collect" or "to gather", and it is the standard verb to use when talking about collecting funds, taxes, or donations. If you wanted to say "raise" as in physically lifting an object, you would use levantar; to raise a child, you would use criar.
Why does maior come after the noun (um donativo maior) instead of before it?
Unlike in English, most adjectives in Portuguese come after the noun they describe. Maior (bigger/larger) is the comparative form of grande (big), and it follows this normal rule here to describe the donation.
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