Sequence of tenses — the Latin grammarians' consecutio temporum — is the principle that the tense of a subordinate verb is dictated by the tense of the main verb. It matters most with the subjunctive: once you know whether the main verb is present/future or past, the subjunctive tense is essentially decided for you. This page lays out the pairings so they become automatic rather than guesswork.
The core rule
The main verb sets the time anchor. A present or future main verb pulls a present subjunctive in the subordinate clause; a past main verb pulls an imperfect subjunctive. The subordinate clause shifts to "match the era" of the main clause.
| Main clause | Subordinate (subjunctive) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present / future | present subjunctive | Quero que ele venha. |
| past (preterite, imperfect, conditional) | imperfect subjunctive | Queria que ele viesse. |
Quero que ele venha amanhã.
I want him to come tomorrow.
Queria que ele viesse ontem.
I wanted him to come yesterday.
The two sentences differ only in the era. Quero (present) demands venha (present subjunctive); queria (past) demands viesse (imperfect subjunctive). Mixing them — Quero que ele viesse or Queria que ele venha — sounds wrong to a native ear, the way "I want that he came" jars in English.
Present and future main clauses → present subjunctive
Any main verb anchored in the present or future zone (present indicative, future, imperative) selects the present subjunctive.
Espero que você se sinta melhor logo.
I hope you feel better soon.
Vou pedir que eles fiquem mais um pouco.
I'm going to ask them to stay a little longer.
Duvido que ela aceite o convite.
I doubt she'll accept the invitation.
The future main verb behaves the same way as the present — there is no separate "future subjunctive" pull here. Vou pedir que fiquem, Direi que tenha cuidado: both take the present subjunctive.
Past main clauses → imperfect subjunctive
When the main verb is in the preterite, imperfect, or conditional, the subordinate verb drops to the imperfect subjunctive. The conditional counts as "past" for this purpose because it is morphologically and functionally tied to the past axis.
Pedi que eles ficassem mais um pouco.
I asked them to stay a little longer.
Ela duvidava que o plano desse certo.
She doubted the plan would work out.
Eu gostaria que você me ouvisse com calma.
I would like you to hear me out calmly.
That third example is the give-away: gostaria (conditional) is a polite, softened request, and it pulls ouvisse (imperfect subjunctive). This gostaria que + imperfect subjunctive pattern is the standard polite formula — note how it parallels English "I would like you to…".
Anteriority — compound subjunctives
So far the subordinate action is simultaneous with or later than the main one. When the subordinate action happened before the main one, Portuguese marks that "earlier-than" relation with a compound subjunctive.
With a present main verb, use the present perfect subjunctive (tenha + participle); with a past main verb, use the pluperfect subjunctive (tivesse + participle).
| Main clause | Subordinate action is earlier | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present | tenha + participle | Espero que ele tenha chegado. |
| past | tivesse + participle | Esperava que ele tivesse chegado. |
Espero que ele já tenha chegado em casa.
I hope he has already gotten home.
Foi uma pena que você não tenha vindo à festa.
It's a shame you didn't come to the party.
Eu não imaginava que eles tivessem mentido para mim.
I had no idea they had lied to me.
The logic: Espero que ele venha projects forward (he hasn't come yet), while Espero que ele tenha chegado looks back (the arrival, if it happened, is already complete). The compound forms encode that the subordinate event precedes the main one.
Reported speech: backshift in the indicative
Sequence of tenses also governs the indicative when you report what someone said. When the reporting verb is in the past (disse, falou, contou), the reported tenses shift back one step — the same "backshift" English performs ("He says he is tired" → "He said he was tired").
| Direct speech | Reported (after past verb) |
|---|---|
| present → | imperfect |
| preterite / present perfect → | pluperfect (tinha + participle) |
| future → | conditional |
Ele disse que estava cansado.
He said he was tired. (Direct: 'Estou cansado.')
Ela contou que tinha viajado para o Nordeste.
She said she had traveled to the Northeast. (Direct: 'Viajei para o Nordeste.')
Ele avisou que chegaria atrasado.
He warned that he would arrive late. (Direct: 'Chegarei atrasado.')
When the reporting verb is in the present (ele diz que…), no backshift occurs — Ele diz que está cansado keeps the present, just like English "He says he is tired."
Putting it together
| Meaning | Present anchor | Past anchor |
|---|---|---|
| simultaneous / later | Quero que venha. | Queria que viesse. |
| earlier than main | Espero que tenha vindo. | Esperava que tivesse vindo. |
Common Mistakes
❌ Queria que ele venha amanhã.
Incorrect — a past main verb (queria) requires the imperfect subjunctive viesse, not the present venha.
✅ Queria que ele viesse amanhã.
I wanted him to come tomorrow.
❌ Quero que ele viesse hoje.
Incorrect — a present main verb (quero) requires the present subjunctive venha, not the imperfect viesse.
✅ Quero que ele venha hoje.
I want him to come today.
❌ Eu gostaria que você me ouve.
Incorrect — the conditional 'gostaria' is a past anchor and takes the imperfect subjunctive ouvisse, never the present indicative.
✅ Eu gostaria que você me ouvisse.
I would like you to hear me out.
❌ Espero que ele chegou em casa.
Incorrect — after 'espero que' the indicative preterite is wrong; for a completed prior action use the present perfect subjunctive tenha chegado.
✅ Espero que ele tenha chegado em casa.
I hope he has gotten home.
❌ Ele disse que está cansado quando falou comigo ontem.
Incorrect — with a past reporting verb the present 'está' should backshift to the imperfect estava.
✅ Ele disse que estava cansado quando falou comigo ontem.
He said he was tired when he spoke to me yesterday.
Key Takeaways
- Look left at the main verb before conjugating the subjunctive: present/future → present subjunctive; past (including the conditional) → imperfect subjunctive.
- For an action earlier than the main one, use the compound subjunctive: tenha + participle (present anchor) or tivesse + participle (past anchor).
- The polite gostaria que… always takes the imperfect subjunctive, because the conditional sits on the past axis.
- In reported speech with a past verb, the indicative backshifts one step — present → imperfect, preterite → pluperfect, future → conditional.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Sequence of Tenses with SubjunctiveB2 — How the tense of the main verb decides which subjunctive tense follows — the predictable matching rule that lets you choose 'venha', 'viesse', or 'tenha vindo' automatically.
- Tense Shifts in Reported SpeechB1 — The backshift system for Brazilian Portuguese — when the reporting verb is past, present becomes imperfect, preterite becomes pluperfect, future becomes conditional, and commands become 'que' + imperfect subjunctive.
- Imperfeito do Subjuntivo: UsageB1 — When to use the imperfect subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese — hypothetical 'se' clauses, past-tense triggers, 'como se', and softened wishes.
- Compound Subjunctive Tenses: OverviewB2 — A map of the three compound subjunctive tenses — tenha falado, tivesse falado, tiver falado — built from 'ter' plus a past participle to mark an action completed before the reference point.
- Subjunctive after Verbs of Desire and WillA2 — Why querer que, pedir que, and other verbs of wanting force the subjunctive — and the English-speaker error to avoid.