Breakdown of Decidimos distanciarnos por un conflicto semejante.
un
a, an (masculine)
decidir
to decide
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
el conflicto
the conflict
Questions & Answers about Decidimos distanciarnos por un conflicto semejante.
Why is semejante placed after the noun (un conflicto semejante), and what happens if we put it before?
Placing semejante after the noun gives it the objective, descriptive meaning of "similar" or "alike." If you place it before the noun (un semejante conflicto), it becomes an adjective of magnitude meaning "such a conflict" or "such a massive conflict." When placed before the noun, it highlights the speaker's emotional reaction to how big or crazy the conflict was.
Could I say nos decidimos distanciar instead of attaching nos to the end?
Yes, you can! When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, pronoun placement is flexible. You can attach the reciprocal pronoun nos to the infinitive (decidimos distanciarnos) or place it before the conjugated verb (nos decidimos distanciar). Both mean exactly the same thing, though attaching it to the infinitive is very common and sounds perfectly natural here.
Why do we use por instead of para to mean "because of" here?
Por is the go-to preposition for indicating the cause, motive, or reason behind an action. They distanced themselves because of (or due to) the conflict. Para is used for goals, purposes, or destinations (like "in order to"), which wouldn't make sense in this context.
How do we know decidimos is in the past tense ("we decided") and not the present ("we decide")?