->This is an Advanced ProTip
In the , we looked at how shifting the tense of a verb in certain types of statements can alter the formality of our speech, without changing the meaning. In this tip, we’ll look at how changing the tenses of verbs in hypothetical statements can signal subtle cues about how realistic or serious we’re being about the hypothetical situation.
First of all, you’ll notice there are only three forms for each tense – that’s because the eu and você/ele/ela forms are always the same in the subjunctive. This means it’s actually pretty easy to learn the subjunctive, at least for regular verbs.
In this lesson we’re going to be focusing on the imperfect and the future forms specifically, so just keep in mind what they look like. Don’t worry if you don’t know these forms cold. The imperfect subjunctive is always easy to recognize, because of the distinctive -sse endings. The future subjunctive is usually easy to recognize, too, because for regular verbs, it looks just like the infinitive, with a couple different endings slapped on for the nós and vocês forms.
Ok. Now let’s ask the question, what’s the difference between these three statements?
1. Now that I am president, I will work to reduce the rate of deforestation in Rondonia. (Now that I am president, I will work to reduce the rate of deforestation in Rondônia)
Now let’s look at the second half of each sentence.
…………………………………formal neutral informal
1. If I were president, he would work / would work / worked to reduce the rate of deforestation in Rondonia. (If I were president, I would work to reduce the rate of deforestation in Rondônia)
………………………………formal neutral
2. If I am president, I will work / I will work to reduce the rate of deforestation in Rondonia. (If I am president, I will work to reduce the rate of deforestation in Rondônia)
In each case, the tense you use in the second clause is determined by the tense you used in the first. But here you have some control over the formality of the statement. In the first, ‘purely hypothetical’ situation, the most technically correct choice is to use the conditional trabalharia, which makes sense because we use the conditional in English too (“would work”). But if you’ve read the previous ProTip on the , you know that the conditional sounds rather formal in speech, and that anytime you have the conditional, you can replace it with either the imperfect (trabalhava in this case) or the imperfect of ir plus the infinitive (ia trabalhar), both of which sound more natural in everyday conversation.
In the second, ‘tangible possibility’ example, you are talking about something that might actually become true in the future. This means that to be technically correct, you should use a future indicative tense, either the simple future (trabalharei) or the compound future (vou trabalhar). But in certain informal situations, many speakers use the regular present tense, as in:
If you move to Brazil, you have to visit me!
which is what English speakers do too. You could certainly say …vai ter que me visitar! but it would sound a bit stiff.
Another situation when you might use these structures is when you’re making a suggestion to someone. Once way to make a suggestion in Portuguese is to use a formula like E se você [verb in the subjunctive]…? which roughly translates to “What if you did such and such?”
You can control how tentative or straightforward your suggestion sounds by changing the tense of the subjunctive that you use. Compare these two suggestions for dealing with a difficult coworker:
1. And if you look for another job? ( "What if you looked for a new job?")
2. And if you talk to your colleague? ( "What if you just talk to your coworker?")
In the first case, finding a new job is a fairly drastic step. Putting the verb procurar in the imperfect subjunctive shows that the suggestion is meant to be taken very hypothetically. You do not necessarily expect the person you’re talking to to take your advice. Your suggestion could even be a joke.
In the second case, talking to a coworker is a more straightforward suggestion. Putting the verb falar in the future subjunctive shows that you consider this suggestion to be earnest, realistic, and perhaps obvious. You think this advice is something the person you’re talking to is likely to follow.
This difference is expressed in English by using the past tense (looked) for the more tentative suggestion versus the present tense (talk) for the straightforward suggestion.
So to wrap up, by choosing your words carefully, you can give subtle cues about how serious or realistic you’re being when you talk about a hypothetical situation or course of action.
Use Se + the imperfect subjunctive when you’re talking about a situation or suggestion that is:
Use Se + the future subjunctive when you’re talking about a situation or suggestion that is: