Pensei que desse para irmos nadar

Portuguese Questions Expressions & Usage
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Hiya, sorry, another question. I couldn’t get my head around this phrase. Is the infinitive of desse ‘dar’ ?

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Hi there! “desse” is “dar” in its imperfect subjunctive tense, and the expression “dar para” means something like “can do”. This is my comprehension.

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@Jessica is right, @peterjduffy :slight_smile: “Pensei que desse para irmos nadar” means something like “I thought it would be possible for us to go swimming”. It’s one of the possible uses of the verb dar. Other examples:

  • Não deu para ir à loja, estava fechada. (I couldn’t go to the store, it was closed)
  • Dá para me fazer um desconto? (Could you give me a discount?)
  • Se desse para viajares agora, para onde irias? (If you could travel right now, where would you go?)

Note how the verb doesn’t have a defined subject when used like this.

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Thank you for the helpful explanation @Joseph :slight_smile:

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Thank you @Jessica! Much appreciated

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My pleasure :smiley:

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Can you explain ‘irmos’ too? There’s no such conjugation for ir on the Verbs page (or is it interchangeable with ‘iremos’?).

[Edit: found it! https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/impersonal-vs-personal-infinitive/ ]

—Aaron

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That’s it, @andradejoey! Irmos (to go) is the 1st-person plural personal infinitive of the verb ir.