Hi All
I have been revising possessives over the break and noted the specific relatonships between possessives and nouns. It got me thinking about expressions where a possessive is used with a “verb” e.g. thanks for your help… obrigado pela sua/ tua ajuda etc…and on my train of thought went to, is it a verb in that context? or a noun (gerund) ? and how do the rules alter if at all, masc, feminine etc etc?
Any thoughts ?
Thanks, Damien.
Hey Damien. In the sentence you propose, “ajuda” is a noun. It’s seems like you are confusing it with the conjugated form of the verb ajudar. “Ajuda” as the third-person singular conjugation would play an entirely different role in a sentence, for example “When you help me, I am thankful” (Quando me ajuda, estou agradecida/o).
Neither is it a gerund: in English, “help” as a gerund world be “thank you for helping me”, not “thank you for your help”. Anyway European Portuguese makes a different kind of construction (estar+a+infinitive verb) for what would be gerunds in English and Brazilian Portuguese.
Does that clear up your concern about the correct possessive to use with “ajuda”?