Regency of the verb “allow” –

Note the following sentence:

Communication is an inherent characteristic of all beings, allowing them to live in society.

At first glance, there is nothing wrong with the phrase, but if you are an attentive reader and student of the Portuguese language, you may have noticed that there is a linguistic deviation in it related to verbal regency. This type of slip is very common in the written and oral modality (without compromising communication in the latter), given that conducting is a chapter, shall we say, a little complicated in our grammar.

To continue with our explanation, let’s correct the sentence:

Communication is an inherent characteristic of all beings, what allows them live in society.

If you didn’t notice the error before, you certainly have now. The difficulty revolves around the regency of the verb “allow”. In the first sentence (the one with the deviation), the unstressed oblique pronoun ‘you’ replaced the also oblique pronoun ‘them’, causing a serious error of regency. Let’s analyze the sentence:

The communication allows something or something to someone. In this case, the communication will allow something, that is, human beings live in society. So the verb to allow It is indirect transitive, thus requiring an indirect object. For indirect transitive verbs, we must use the unstressed oblique pronoun ‘him’ (which acts as an indirect object) and leave the unstressed oblique pronoun ‘o’ only for verbs that require a direct object. See the examples:

Don’t stop now… There’s more after the publicity 😉

Students will have classes on traffic education, which will allow them better behavior behind the wheel.
His chronicles are among the best known by readers. Luis Fernando Verissimo write them with humor and intelligence.
We must listen to our parents, owing them obedience and respect.
I love my children. I love them with tenderness.

Synthesizing:

Indirect transitive verbs receive complements, the so-called indirect objects. They will require a preposition, which will be responsible for verbal regency. Third-person oblique case personal pronouns ‘him’ It is ‘them’ can act as indirect objects, standing in for people. Example: The teacher allowed the exit of the student / The teacher him allowed to exit.

By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters