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The inflected infinitive

An infinitive that carries its own subject. Portuguese has it, Spanish does not, and using it well is a C1 marker in both standards.

Portuguese · Grammar · GRM-05

The control text · argumentative

Proibir o celular nas escolas parece uma medida drástica, mas os resultados sugerem que ela funciona. Nas redes que adotaram a restrição, os professores relatam menos interrupções e uma queda nos casos de intimidação online. É verdade que o aparelho também é ferramenta de estudo, e seria ingênuo ignorar isso. Ainda assim, o custo da distração recai sobre quem já tem menos apoio em casa. Enquanto não houver evidência de que o uso livre melhora a aprendizagem, o ônus da prova cabe a quem defende a permissão.

Every option below rewrites this text.

Where the two part

Brazilian · the base

Alive and used, though speech often restructures around it with a finite clause instead.

European · the contrast

Alive and used more freely; its absence where it is expected reads as an error rather than a simplification.

10 options

GRM-05a

After a preposition, subject stated

Both

para nós resolvermos isso ainda esta semana

The tellAn infinitive ending in -mos, -es or -em after a preposition.

Gains

The canonical use, and the one that most reliably tightens a sentence that would otherwise need que.

Costs

Nothing transfers from Spanish, so the endings have to be learned as a paradigm.

GRM-05b

After a preposition, subject implied

Both

sem eles saberem que o serviço já tinha sido cancelado

The tellA pronoun subject sitting directly in front of an inflected infinitive.

Gains

Compact and unambiguous about who is doing what, which a bare infinitive cannot be.

Costs

Word order is fixed, so it is less flexible than the finite clause it replaces.

GRM-05c

After an impersonal expression

Both

É importante vocês confirmarem por escrito.

The tellÉ importante, é preciso, convém followed by an inflected infinitive.

Gains

The natural alternative to the present subjunctive here, and often lighter than que plus subjunctive.

Costs

It competes with the subjunctive rather than replacing it, so you have to choose — and both are correct.

GRM-05d

ao + inflected infinitive

Both

Ao receberem o comprovante, encerraram o caso.

The tellAo plus an inflected infinitive: on or upon doing something.

Gains

A one-word temporal clause. In formal writing it does what a whole subordinate clause would.

Costs

Frequent in journalism to the point of cliché, and it can leave the time relation vaguer than a finite clause would.

GRM-05e

apesar de + inflected infinitive

Both

Apesar de terem cancelado a assinatura, a cobrança continuou.

The tellA concessive preposition plus an inflected infinitive.

Gains

Exactly the move Anchor B's concession needs, and it reads as controlled rather than wordy.

Costs

The participle agreement inside it is a second thing to get right at the same time.

GRM-05f

por + inflected infinitive

Both

Por não terem respondido, registrei a reclamação.

The tellCausal por plus inflected infinitive: because they did not.

Gains

States cause without porque, which raises the register of a complaint immediately.

Costs

Ambiguous with the agentive por in a passive if the sentence is not carefully built.

GRM-05g

Finite clause instead

Both

para que nós resolvamos isso · sem que eles saibam

The tellque plus a subjunctive where an inflected infinitive would have done.

Gains

Always available, always correct, and closer to how Brazilian speech actually builds these clauses.

Costs

Heavier on the page, and in an exam it can look like avoiding the structure being tested.

GRM-05h

Uninflected infinitive, one subject

Both

Preciso resolver isso ainda esta semana.

The tellNo ending, because the subject is the same as the main verb's.

Gains

The right choice when there is only one subject — inflecting here would be an error, not a flourish.

Costs

Knowing when not to inflect is half the domain, and it is the half people skip.

GRM-05i

Inflected where it is optional

Both

É difícil eles aceitarem · É difícil eles aceitar — the first is standard

The tellBoth forms appear in the wild; only one survives editing.

Gains

Recognising the variation stops you correcting native speech that is not wrong, only spoken.

Costs

The line between optional and obligatory is genuinely fuzzy, and no rule you can state covers it.

GRM-05j

Over-inflected

Both

Quero resolvermos isso. — wrong: one subject, no ending

The tellAn ending on an infinitive whose subject is already the main verb's.

Gains

On the sheet because it is the characteristic error of someone who has just learned the form and is pleased with it.

Costs

It is an error in both standards, and it is the kind that reads as showing off rather than as a slip.