Portuguese 4.6. Present Subjunctive Tense

All the tenses we have encountered so far were in the indicative mood. The indicative mood is what we use to express facts. This is the mood we encounter often. There are five moods in total in Portuguese: infinitive, indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and conditional. The present subjunctive tense is used in Spanish to express opinion, possibility, and feelings such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc.

Conjugation

Remember that the present indicative is formed as follows:

	-ar ending falar (to speak)	-er ending comer (to eat)	-ir ending partir (to leave)
eu	falo	como	parto
ele/ela/você	fala	come	parte
nós	falamos	comemos	partimos
eles/elas/vocês	falam	comem	partem

On the other hand, the present subjunctive is formed as follows:

We begin from the first-person singular in the present indicative, i.e., “falo,” “como,” “parto,” etc., and we extract the stem “fal-,” “com-,” “part-,” etc. Then, we add the endings shown in the table below. Note that verbs ending in “er” and “ir” are conjugated in the same way in the present subjunctive.

	-ar ending falar (to speak)	-er ending comer (to eat)	-ir ending partir (to leave)
eu	fale	coma	parta
ele/ela/você	fale	coma	parta
nós	falemos	comamos	partamos
eles/elas/vocês	falem	comam	partam

You must remember to use the stem from the first-person “eu” form in the present indicative, not the stem from the infinitive. This is especially important with verbs that are irregular in the first-person “eu” form in the present indicative. For example, use the stem from “eu tenho” to use the verb “ter” in the present subjunctive, i.e., “tenh-.” Below are some examples:

	ter (to have) tenh-	fazer (to do) faç-	poder (can) poss-	ver (to see) vej-
eu	tenha	faça	possa	veja
ele/ela/você	tenha	faça	possa	veja
nós	tenhamos	façamos	possamos	vejamos
eles/elas/vocês	tenham	façam	possam	vejam

Some verbs in the present subjunctive undergo minor spelling changes similar to those encountered in the present indicative to maintain the proper pronunciation, for example:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
pagar to pay	pague	pague	paguemos	paguem
ficar to stay	fique	fique	fiquemos	fiquem
caçar to hunt	cace	cace	cacemos	cacem

The following verbs have completely irregular stems and must be memorized:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
estar to be	esteja	esteja	estejamos	estejam
dar to give	dê	dê	dêmos	dêem
ser to be	seja	seja	sejamos	sejam
saber to know	saiba	saiba	saibamos	saibam
querer to want	queira	queira	queiramos	queiram
haver to have	haja	haja	hajamos	hajam
ir to go	vá	vá	vamos	vão

The subjunctive is usually used in subordinate clauses that use the conjunction “that,” where the main clause expresses opinions and feelings such as fear, doubt, hope, desire, etc.

	Examples
Impersonal opinion	É importante que você coma bem. It is important that you eat well.
Happiness	Me alegro que esteja bem. I’m glad that you are well.
Doubt	Duvido que ele queira vir hoje. I doubt that he wants to come today.
Hope	Espero que você esteja feliz. I hope that you are happy.
Desire	Quero que você estude bem. I want you to study well.

Expressing Opinions

Knowing when to use the indicative mood and when to use the subjunctive mood when expressing an opinion in Portuguese can be a little tricky. Nevertheless, these are the main guidelines:

1. Impersonal Opinions

For impersonal opinions, such as “it is important that …,” “it is good that …,” and “it is bad that …,” we generally use the subjunctive mood, for example:

É importante que você visite sua família.	It is important that you visit your family.
É bom que você esteja aqui hoje.	It is good that you are here today.

However, if the impersonal opinion expresses some sense of certainty, such as “it is true that …” and “it is obvious that …,” the indicative mood is used, for example:

É claro que vamos vencer esta partida.	It is clear that we are going to win this match.
É óbvio que não estou interessado.	It is obvious that I am not interested.
É verdade que quero sair hoje.	It is true that I want to go out today.

2. Personal Opinions

If the main clause expresses an opinion in the negative, the subordinate clause is in the subjunctive mood, for example:

Não acho que esta casa seja muito grande.	I don’t think that this house is too big.
Não creio que haja pessoas morando lá.	I don’t believe that there are people living there.
Não me parece que ela fale espanhol.	It doesn’t seem to me that she speaks Spanish.

If the main clause is in the affirmative, the subordinate clause must be in the indicative, not in the subjunctive mood, for example:

Acho que esta casa é muito grande.	I think that this house is too big.
Creio que há pessoas morando lá.	I believe that there are people living there.
Me parece que ela fala espanhol.	It seems to me that she speaks Spanish.

Note also that it is the main clause that determines the use of the indicative or the subjunctive. For instance, in the sentence “Acho que ela não fala espanhol,” we use the indicative because the main clause “Acho que” is in the affirmative.

Expressing Possibilities

Some expressions that suggest the possibility of something being one way or the other, such as “talvez” and “pode ser,” meaning “perhaps” or “maybe,” use the subjunctive mood. For example:

Talvez possamos sair hoje.	Perhaps we can go out today.
Pode ser que não haja ninguém aqui.	It could be that there is no one here.

Note that some equivalent expressions exclusively use the indicative, such as “provavelmente” (probably),“possivelmente” (possibly),and “se calhar” (maybe). For example:

Provavelmente podemos sair hoje.	Probably we can go out today.
Possivelmente não há ninguém aqui.	Possibly there is no one here.
Se calhar é melhor ir embora.	Maybe it is better to leave.

Expressing Desires, Wishes, Feelings, Requests, and Recommendations

In general, desires, wishes, feelings, and requests are expressed in the subjunctive mood, for example:

Quero que você coma conosco.	I want you to eat with us.
Espero que nos vejamos em breve.	I hope that we see each other soon.
Me alegro que esteja bem.	I’m glad that you are well.
Peço que me ajude a preparar o jantar.	I ask that you help me prepare dinner.
Imploro que você não fume em casa.	I beg you not to smoke at home.
Recomendo que você vá à praia.	I recommend that you go to the beach.

Note that when a verb is used to express desire, the subjunctive mood is only used if the subject and the performer of the action are not the same, for example:

Quero que você estude bem.

I want you to study well.

If the subject and the performer of the action are the same, we use the infinitive following the verb, for example:

Quero estudar bem.

I want to study well.

The Expression “Oxalá”

The expression “oxalá” is derived from the Arabic influence on the Portuguese language and is used to express hope that something would happen or would have happened. We will cover the use of “oxalá” in the present subjunctive, which can be translated roughly as “hopefully” to express hope for something to happen in the present or the future, for example:

Oxalá (que) não chova esta noite.	Hopefully, it won’t rain tonight.
Oxalá (que) meu irmão venha hoje.	Hopefully, my brother will come today.

“Oxalá” can also be used to express hope that something has happened or would have happened in the past. We will cover that in the lessons to come with the imperfect and perfect subjunctive.

An alternative to “oxalá” that is more common in Brazilian Portuguese is “tomara.” For example:

Tomara que não chova esta noite.	Hopefully, it won’t rain tonight.
Tomara que meu irmão venha hoje.	Hopefully, my brother will come today.

The Use of “Para que”

The preposition “para,” meaning “for,” “to,” or “in order to,” is used to indicate the purpose or the objective.

When used alone without “que” afterward, it is followed by the verb in the infinitive, for example:

Comprei um carro para viajar.	I bought a car to travel.
Utilizo este livro para aprender português.	I use this book to learn Portuguese.

Notice in the sentences above that the subject is the same before and after “para.” Thus, we used the infinitive.

If the subject before and after “para” is different, we use “para que” followed by the subjunctive, for example:

Comprei um carro para que possamos viajar.	I bought a car so that we can travel.
Utilizo este livro para que aprendamos português.	I use this book so that we learn Portuguese.

Another alternative to “para que,” which is more formal but has the same meaning, is “a fim de que,” and it is similarly followed by the subjunctive, for example:

Comprei um carro a fim de que possamos viajar.	I bought a car so that we can travel.
Utilizo este livro a fim de que aprendamos português.	I use this book so that we learn Portuguese.

More Expressions that use the Subjunctive

It is really hard to include all expressions that use the subjunctive in this limited space. However, a few expressions are still worth mentioning as we are likely to encounter them more frequently.

First, the expressions “contanto que” and “desde que” mean “as long as” or “provided that.” These expressions are often followed by the subjunctive. For example:

Contanto que o café esteja bom, eu beberei.	As long as the coffee is good, I’ll drink it.
Desde que o café esteja bom, eu beberei.	As long as the coffee is good, I’ll drink it.

Second, the expression “por mais que,” meaning “no matter how much” or “however much,” is usually followed by the subjunctive. For example:

Por mais que eu queira, não jantarei hoje.	As much as I want it, I won’t have dinner today.
Por mais que você insista, eu não farei isso.	No matter how much you insist, I won’t do it.

Another common expression that is usually followed by the subjunctive is “a menos que,” which means “unless,” for example:

A menos que você tenha muito dinheiro, será difícil morar aqui.	Unless you have enough money, it will be difficult to live here.
Não avançaremos a menos que sejamos pacientes.	We won’t advance unless we are patient.

Finally, the expression “sem que,” which means “without,” is often followed by the subjunctive and used in a similar context to “a menos que,” for example:

Vou deixar a chave sem que ele veja.	I will leave the key without him seeing.
Não vamos avançar sem que sejamos pacientes.	We won’t advance without being patient.

Next: Future Perfect Tense

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