Глава 10

Последняя глава включает следующие темы:

• личный инфинитив

• причастие настоящего времени

• употребление инфинитива

• значения'por' и 'para'

• особые случаи употребления определённого артикля

45 Личный инфинитив

The personal infinitive is an inflected infinitive which, although it is unique to Portuguese, need not worry the student, for whom it simplifies syntax. In some cases, for instance, it can replace the more complicated subjunctive.

The formation of the personal infinitive is the same for all verbs, without exception. It is an infinitive with personal endings to indicate the person to whom the infinitive refers. It has only one set of endings, whether the verb is regular or irregular, and it can be used with subject pronouns.

The personal infinitive

SINGULAR PLURAL

1st person eu falar falarmos

2nd person (familiar) falares falarem

2nd person (informal) você falar

3rd person ele/ela falar falarem

Uses of the personal infinitive

1 in place of the subjunctive

The personal infinitive can replace the subjunctive after verbs of commanding, requesting and emotion, provided that the conjunction is replaced with a preposition. (See Uses of the subjunctive mood in section 40.)

In the conjunctions antes que and depois que, the que is replaced with the preposition de. (This does not apply to the conjunctions contanto que, embora que, mesmo que, ainda que, se bem que, logo que, a não que, all of which need to use the subjunctive.)

subjunctive: Ela pediu para que lhe telefonássemos.

pers inf: Ela pediu para lhe telefonarmos.

She asked us to telephone him.

subjunctive: Vou sair antes que chova.

pers inf: Vou sair antes de chover.

I am going out before it rains.

The personal infinitive can also replace the subjunctive in impersonal expressions and after such verbs as surpreender, agradar, estranhar, ter pena, lamentar, recear. In these cases, it requires no preposition:

subjunctive: É pena que não estejam aqui.

pers inf: É pena não estarem aqui.

It's a shame they are not here.

subjunctive: É bom que eles vão dar uma volta.

pers inf: É bom irem dar uma volta.

It's a good idea for them to go for a walk.

The personal infinitive can replace the subjunctive in adverbial clauses. For example:

subjunctive: Partiram sem que lhes disséssemos adeus.

pers inf: Partiram sem lhes dizermos adeus.

They left without our saying goodbye to them

subjunctive: Não te perdoo até que tu me peças perdão.

pers inf: Não te perdoo até tu me pedires perdão.

I am not forgiving you until you apologise.

Notice that in the above examples, subordinate clauses containing a subjunctive are always introduced by que, whereas those containing a personal infinitive are not.

3 To express 'on doing something'

The personal infinitive is a simple and convenient way of expressing the English construction 'on' + present participle. It can be used in combination with past, present and future tenses. For example:

Ao chegarem, encontraram-se logo com o Primeiro Ministro.

On arriving, they met the Prime Minister at once.

In English, to avoid ambiguity, we would probably say, 'On their arrival...'. But in Portuguese, the ending em immediately identifies 'them' as the subject of the personal infinitive. More examples:

Ao entrarmos, vimos o ladrão.

On entering (as we entered/when we went in), we saw the thief.

Só saberei a resposta ao chegar ao escritório.

I shall only know the answer on my arriving at the office.

Note: Do not use subject pronouns after ao + personal infinitive.

4 To express the reason for doing something, with por

The personal infinitive is useful as a succinct way of replacing porque + indicative as the following examples illustrate.

indicative: Não te escrevemos porque não sabíamos a tua morada.

pers inf. Não te escrevemos por não sabermos a tua morada.

We did not write to you because we did not know your address.

indicative: Inácio partiu porque chegou a sua sogra.

pers inf: Inácio partiu por chegar a sua sogra.

Ignatius departed because his mother-in-law arrived.

5 Idiomatic use to express irony, sarcasm or incredulity

When the personal infinitive is used in this way, the meaning - in speech, at any rate - is likely to be conveyed as much by intonation as by the construction and form of verb. Such expressions can often be translated word for word into English, but are usually best rendered by the use of an extra phrase. Consider these examples:

Tu, estudares?

You? Studying? (or: What? You're actually studying?)

Nós, mentirmos por causa de você?

Us? Tell lies on your account? for: Do you really expect us to tell lies for your sake?)

Exercise 30

Translate the/allowing:

1 Este livro é para lermos.

2 Não quero comprar o carro sem tu concordares.

3 É pena não poderes vir no próximo domingo.

4 Foi bom trazerem os vossos casacos porque vai estar frio.

5 Receio estarem zangados comigo.

6 Não vieram por estarem cansados.

7 Foi impossível irmos à tourada.

8 Vocês, ganharem a taça mundial?

9 They are going to leave before we arrive.

10 It was impossible for us to see the minister.

11 It surprises me your (familiar) saying a thing like that.

12 I said goodbye to them before they left.

13 I cannot give an opinion until we know everything.

14 We didn't have lunch because we did not have time.

Словарь

concordar согласиться

casaco пальто, куртка

recear бояться

zangado злой, сердитый

tourada бой быков

taça mundial кубок мира (в Бразилии: copa do mundo) uma coisa assim/uma coisa destas что-то в этом роде