Unreal present conditions describe situations you are imagining, not stating as fact — "if I were rich," "if I had more time," "if you knew the truth." Portuguese marks these hypothetical worlds with a specific verb-tense combination: imperfect subjunctive in the se-clause plus conditional in the main clause. European Portuguese also has a second, more colloquial pattern that every learner must recognize. This page covers both.
A note on the URL: This page uses a legacy slug with "si-" for compatibility reasons. The Portuguese conjunction is always se — that is what you will see in every example on this page.
The core pattern
The prescriptive, canonical structure is:
Se + imperfect subjunctive, conditional
Se tivesse tempo, iria contigo ao médico.
If I had time, I would go to the doctor with you.
Se vivêssemos no campo, seríamos mais felizes.
If we lived in the countryside, we would be happier.
The se-clause uses the imperfect subjunctive (fosse, tivesse, vivêssemos) to set up a world that does not exist. The main clause uses the conditional (compraria, iria, seríamos) to describe what would happen in that imagined world.
Why this specific tense pairing?
Conditionals in Portuguese encode reality status grammatically. The imperfect subjunctive is the mood of what is not true but which the speaker is imagining. The conditional is its natural partner — a tense that inherently means "would happen if something else were the case." Together they create a closed, self-consistent hypothetical.
This is different from the future subjunctive + present pattern, which says this might actually happen. The imperfect subjunctive + conditional pattern says this is definitely not happening, but imagine it were.
Forming the imperfect subjunctive (quick recap)
The imperfect subjunctive is built from the 3rd-person plural preterite, minus the final -ram, plus endings in -sse-:
| Person | falar (falaram) | comer (comeram) | partir (partiram) |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falasse | comesse | partisse |
| tu | falasses | comesses | partisses |
| ele/ela/você | falasse | comesse | partisse |
| nós | falássemos | comêssemos | partíssemos |
| eles/elas/vocês | falassem | comessem | partissem |
Because the stem comes from the irregular 3rd-person plural preterite, all preterite irregulars are also imperfect subjunctive irregulars:
| Infinitive | Preterite 3pl | Imperfect subj. (eu) |
|---|---|---|
| ser / ir | foram | fosse |
| ter | tiveram | tivesse |
| estar | estiveram | estivesse |
| poder | puderam | pudesse |
| querer | quiseram | quisesse |
| fazer | fizeram | fizesse |
| dizer | disseram | dissesse |
| vir | vieram | viesse |
| ver | viram | visse |
| saber | souberam | soubesse |
| trazer | trouxeram | trouxesse |
| haver | houveram | houvesse |
The colloquial EP variant: imperfect indicative instead of conditional
Here is something every textbook should teach but many don't: in everyday European Portuguese, the conditional in the main clause is frequently — even predominantly — replaced by the imperfect indicative. The se-clause stays in the imperfect subjunctive.
Se eu fosse rico, comprava uma casa em Sintra.
If I were rich, I'd buy a house in Sintra. (colloquial)
Se tivesse tempo, ia contigo.
If I had time, I'd go with you. (colloquial)
Se soubesse nadar, atirava-me à água já.
If I could swim, I'd jump in the water right now. (colloquial)
This pattern is not incorrect or substandard — it is the default in informal spoken Portuguese and very common in informal writing. Native speakers say comprava much more often than compraria in casual conversation. The conditional (compraria) survives in formal and written registers, in news, literature, and careful speech.
| Register | Typical form |
|---|---|
| Literary, formal written | Se eu fosse rico, compraria... |
| Careful spoken, news | Se eu fosse rico, compraria... |
| Everyday spoken EP | Se eu fosse rico, comprava... |
| Texts, friends, informal | Se eu fosse rico, comprava... |
Some grammarians call this the "subjunctive-indicative" or "colloquial conditional" pattern. It is fully grammatical in European Portuguese spoken usage. The only caveat: do not use it in a formal essay, a job application, or a legal text.
The meaning: present vs. future hypothetical
An unreal present conditional can refer to either:
(a) A current state that isn't the case:
Se eu fosse tu, não dizia nada.
If I were you, I wouldn't say anything.
(b) A future event framed as unlikely or hypothetical:
Se ganhasse a lotaria amanhã, não ia trabalhar.
If I won the lottery tomorrow, I wouldn't go to work.
Se me convidassem para a festa, iria com muito gosto.
If they invited me to the party, I would go gladly.
The difference from an open conditional (se ganhar a lotaria, "if I win the lottery") is speaker stance. With the future subjunctive, you are treating the possibility as real. With the imperfect subjunctive, you are treating it as remote or counterfactual.
Se ele chegar a horas, vamos ao cinema.
If he arrives on time (realistic possibility), we'll go to the cinema.
Se ele chegasse a horas, íamos ao cinema.
If he arrived on time (but he never does), we'd go to the cinema.
Giving advice: "se eu fosse a ti"
One of the most common uses of this pattern in daily speech is giving advice. European Portuguese uses "se eu fosse a ti" — literally "if I were at/to you" — for "if I were you":
Se eu fosse a ti, falava com ele diretamente.
If I were you, I'd talk to him directly.
Se eu fosse a ti, aceitava o emprego.
If I were you, I'd accept the job.
Se fosse a vocês, não entrava por ali.
If I were you (pl.), I wouldn't go in that way.
Notice the preposition a (not de). This is fixed. You cannot say se eu fosse tu in EP — that is Brazilian-influenced. The European Portuguese form is se eu fosse a ti. Both clauses commonly use the colloquial pattern (imperfect subjunctive + imperfect indicative).
Polite requests and softened statements
Using the imperfect subjunctive + conditional (or imperfect indicative) softens requests considerably. Compare:
Podes-me emprestar o carro?
Can you lend me the car? (direct)
Se pudesses, emprestavas-me o carro?
If you could, would you lend me the car? (soft, indirect)
The conditional mood already functions as a politeness marker in Portuguese, and wrapping a request inside a hypothetical se-clause adds another layer of distance.
Se não te importasses, eu preferia ficar em casa.
If you didn't mind, I'd prefer to stay home.
Se fosse possível, gostaríamos de mudar a data.
If it were possible, we would like to change the date.
Negation in unreal conditions
Negation works just as in affirmative clauses, with não before the verb:
Se eu não tivesse filhos, viajava mais.
If I didn't have children, I'd travel more.
Se a Ana não morasse tão longe, víamo-la mais vezes.
If Ana didn't live so far away, we'd see her more often.
Se não chovesse tanto, a cidade seria mais agradável.
If it didn't rain so much, the city would be more pleasant.
Comparing with English
English has two ways to express the counterfactual: "were" (formal/prescriptive) and "was" (colloquial). Portuguese has no such split — the imperfect subjunctive is a dedicated tense, and every speaker uses it without hesitation.
| English | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| If I were you... | Se eu fosse a ti... |
| If she had more money... | Se ela tivesse mais dinheiro... |
| If we knew the answer... | Se nós soubéssemos a resposta... |
One structural difference: English uses the word "would" to signal the conditional; Portuguese can use either the explicit conditional tense (compraria) or the colloquial imperfect (comprava). English has no real equivalent of the second pattern — you cannot say "If I were rich, I bought a house" — so this is a feature Portuguese has that English lacks.
Spanish interference
If you have studied Spanish, the Portuguese pattern will look familiar: Spanish has the same canonical structure (si yo fuera rico, compraría). The key differences:
- European Portuguese freely substitutes the imperfect indicative for the conditional in informal speech. Spanish does not do this.
- The forms themselves look different: Spanish fuera/fuese, Portuguese fosse only.
- Portuguese uses a ti ("to you") in "se eu fosse a ti"; Spanish uses de ti ("of you") in "si yo fuera tú" or simply tú.
Common Mistakes
❌ Se eu seria rico, compraria uma casa.
Wrong — the se-clause cannot take the conditional.
✅ Se eu fosse rico, compraria uma casa.
If I were rich, I would buy a house.
❌ Se tenho tempo, iria contigo.
Wrong — mixing present indicative with conditional garbles the meaning.
✅ Se tivesse tempo, iria contigo.
If I had time, I would go with you.
❌ Se eu fosse tu, não dizia nada.
Wrong for EP — 'se eu fosse tu' is Brazilian; EP uses 'se fosse a ti'.
✅ Se eu fosse a ti, não dizia nada.
If I were you, I wouldn't say anything.
❌ Se ele estava aqui, sabia o que fazer.
Wrong — the se-clause requires imperfect subjunctive, not imperfect indicative.
✅ Se ele estivesse aqui, saberia o que fazer.
If he were here, he would know what to do.
❌ Se ganhasse a lotaria, vou viajar.
Wrong — present indicative doesn't pair with imperfect subjunctive.
✅ Se ganhasse a lotaria, viajava.
If I won the lottery, I'd travel. (colloquial)
✅ Se ganhasse a lotaria, viajaria.
If I won the lottery, I would travel. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- Unreal present conditions use se + imperfect subjunctive, conditional (formal) or se + imperfect subjunctive, imperfect indicative (colloquial EP).
- Never put the conditional in the se-clause — that is ungrammatical.
- Both forms of the main clause are standard in EP; the imperfect indicative is the default in everyday speech.
- "Se eu fosse a ti" is EP; "se eu fosse tu" is BP.
- The imperfect subjunctive can describe present impossibilities or remote future hypotheticals.
- Use this pattern for polite requests and gentle advice.
Related Topics
- Imperfect Subjunctive OverviewB1 — What the imperfeito do conjuntivo is, how it is built from the preterite stem, and the five families of sentences — hypotheticals, past wishes, politeness, sequence of tenses, and past conjunctions — that call for it.
- Imperfect Subjunctive — Regular FormsB1 — Full paradigms for regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in the imperfeito do conjuntivo, built straight from the preterite stem, including the stress accents on the nós form.
- Imperfect Subjunctive — Irregular FormsB2 — The imperfect subjunctives of ser, ir, ter, estar, fazer, poder, saber, querer, dizer, trazer, ver, vir, pôr, and dar — all built cleanly from their irregular preterite stems.
- If-Clauses with the Imperfect SubjunctiveB1 — Se + imperfeito do conjuntivo + conditional (or imperfect indicative): the core Portuguese pattern for hypothetical and counterfactual conditions — plus the three-way contrast between open, hypothetical, and past-impossible conditions.
- Conditional Tense OverviewB1 — Formation and uses of the conditional (futuro do pretérito)
- Open/Real Conditional Clauses (Se + Future Subjunctive)B1 — Real, possible conditions in Portuguese use se + future subjunctive, not the present indicative as in English.
- Unreal Past Conditions (Se + Pluperfect Subjunctive)B2 — Contrary-to-fact past conditions in Portuguese use se + pluperfect subjunctive with conditional perfect — or in colloquial speech, pluperfect indicative with tinha + participle.