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[ARCHIVE] Conditionals in Portuguese

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EranBarLev
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[ARCHIVE] Conditionals in Portuguese

Post by EranBarLev »

Original post by Danmoller | Archived post

Hey there. I think this should have been posted long ago, specially because of the confusions with past subjunctive and other conditional tenses in incomplete sentences.

So here is how we form conditionals in Portuguese, with full cause-consequence phrases.

I took the four conditionals from here in English: http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/conditionals
If you think there are more conditional forms than these, please tell me, they would be gladly added to the others.

The Zero Conditional

In Portuguese, it can take two forms:

  • (en) If + Present Simple, ... Present Simple
  • (pt) Se + Present Indicative, ... Present Indicative
  • (pt) Se + Future Subjuncive, ... Present Indicative - Tenses seem to mismatch, but this is very common.

See:

  • If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
  • Se você esquenta a água a 100 graus, ela ferve.
  • Se você esquentar a água a 100 graus, ela ferve.

The first just relates cause and consequence. It's better for "you" since it doesn't really expect the subject to take that action. It fits: "If/When one heats water, it boils", or "the result of heating water is it boiling".

The second is more related what happens if the subject actually tries doing that.

The First Conditional

It has only one form, although the Portuguese future is often used in two forms:

  • (en) If + Present Simple, ... Will + Infinitive
  • (pt) Se + Future Subjunctive, ... Future Indicative
  • (pt) Se + Future Subjunctive, ... Informal Future
  • If it rains tomorrow, we'll stay home.
  • Se chover amanhã, nós ficaremos em casa.
  • Se chover amanhã, nós vamos ficar em casa. (informal future: present ir + infinitive)

Now....why subjunctive?? What should be the difference in English??? Well, see the difference "If it happens to be future subjunctive".

The Second Conditional

This can take two forms, one formal and one informal:

  • (en) If + Past Simple, ... Would + Infinitive
  • (pt) Se + Past Subjunctive, ... Futuro do Pretérito (1) - formal
  • (pt) Se + Past Subjunctive, .... Imperfect Past - informal

(1) - Future of the Past

So, here are the examples:

  • (en) If I had money, I would travel around the world.
  • (pt) Se eu tivesse dinheiro, eu viajaria ao redor do mundo. - formal
  • (pt) Se eu tivesse dinheiro, eu viajava ao redor do mundo. - informal

The Third Conditional

This one can also take two forms, following the same formal/informal versions above:

  • (en) If + Had (Simple Past) + Past Participle, ............. Would + Have + Past Participle
  • (pt) Se + Ter (Past Subjunctive) + Past participle, ... Ter (Future of the Past) + Past Participle
  • (pt) Se + Ter (Past Subjunctive) + Past participle, ... Ter (Imperfect Past) + Past Participle

Examples:

  • If I had gone to bed early, I would have caught the train.
  • Se eu tivesse ido para a cama cedo, eu teria pego o trem. (formal)
  • Se eu tivesse ido para a cama cedo, eu tinha pego o trem. (informal)

Another one - Past condition, present result:

Here is one more not listed on the link above:

  • (en) If + Had (Simple Past) + Past Participle, ............. Would + Infinitive
  • (pt) Se + Ter (Past Subjunctive) + Past participle, ... Future of the Past
  • (pt) Se + Ter (Past Subjunctive) + Past participle, ... Imperfect Past

Examples:

  • If I had listened to my mother, I wouldn't be in trouble now.
  • Se eu tivesse escutado a minha mãe, eu não estaria em apuros agora.
  • Se eu tivesse escutado a minha mãe, eu não estava em apuros agora.

Curiosity about these ones:

Although tenses don't fit quite well, they are often used for the previous case too (called here third conditional).


Please notice that the informal versions shown above that use "imperfect past" may not make sense if it's not a full sentence with both parts: if + then. If you use just the second part, the "consequence" only, it might make no sense (well....it does in some cases....). So, avoid using the imperfect past in sentences like these:

  • I would take the train. = Eu pegaria o trem. (not pegava, because it means took, used to take)
  • I would like to go. = Eu gostaria de ir. (not gostava....)

Go back to the Portuguese Help Index:
viewtopic.php?t=1829

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