Job Interview Dialogue (B1)

The Portuguese job interview is a formal genre. The candidate and the recruiter address each other with o senhor or a senhora (the most formal style in PT-PT), verbs sit in the 3rd person singular, and the entire exchange is cushioned in the condicional (gostaria, seria, teria) — the tense of politeness and diplomatic distance. Beneath the surface you will find the conjuntivo at work after verbs of wishing and hoping, the imperfeito do conjuntivo in hypothetical sentences, and the infinitivo pessoal doing quiet but crucial work in subordinate clauses.

This page annotates a short fictional interview at a Lisbon consultancy. The candidate, Rita Carvalho, is being interviewed for a consultant position; the recruiter, Dra. Sofia Matos, leads the conversation. The point is not to memorise the vocabulary but to watch how register, mood, and tense interlock to produce a very European Portuguese kind of formality.

The dialogue

Grammar in action

Turn 1 — opening courtesies

Bom dia, Doutora Sofia. Muito prazer em conhecê-la.

• Doutora is the standard honorific in Portuguese professional life for anyone with a university degree. Despite the English connotation of "PhD", in Portugal doutor / doutora is simply the polite professional title — lawyers, engineers, economists, consultants all receive it. Using someone's first name after Doutora is the right blend: respectful but personal.
• Conhecê-la — enclitic direct object pronoun -a (referring to the interviewer, feminine) with the infinitive. Portuguese systematically inserts a hyphen and softens the final consonant: conhecer + a → conhecê-la (the -r drops, the a takes an l-, the vowel carries a circumflex). This is the direct-object contraction rule. See Direct Object Contractions.

Turn 2 — conditional softener + personal infinitive

Antes de começarmos, gostaria de saber se teve alguma dificuldade em encontrar as nossas instalações.

• Antes de começarmos — infinitivo pessoal (personal infinitive), 1st plural. The personal infinitive is Portuguese's single most distinctive feature: the infinitive itself carries person marking. Here the subject of começarmos is we (recruiter and candidate together), made explicit by the -mos ending. Without the personal infinitive, Portuguese would need a subjunctive clause: antes de que comecemos, which is possible but far less idiomatic. See Personal Infinitive after Prepositions.
• Gostaria de saber — condicional of gostar
  • de
    • infinitive. Gostaria de is the single most useful polite softener in Portuguese: any question, any request, any preference becomes formal when framed as gostaria de + infinitive. Direct quero saber ("I want to know") would read as pushy in a job interview.
• Se teve alguma dificuldade — embedded yes/no question introduced by se ("whether"). The verb stays in the indicative (PPS here), because the embedded question is a factual inquiry, not a hypothesis.
• Alguma dificuldade — algum/alguma in a yes/no question has affirmative polarity but signals genuine openness to the answer. The negative alternative would be alguma dificuldade? nenhuma ("any trouble? none").

Turn 4 — mood selection after "gostar que"

Gostaria que me falasse um pouco da sua experiência profissional até agora.

• Gostaria que
  • different subject triggers the imperfeito do conjuntivo (imperfect subjunctive): gostaria que me falasse. The shift from gostaria de + infinitivo (same subject) to gostaria que + conjuntivo (different subject) is the single most important mood rule of Portuguese. Falar → imperfect subjunctive falasse.
• Why imperfect subjunctive and not present subjunctive? Because the main verb gostaria is itself in the conditional — sequence of tenses pulls the embedded subjunctive back one step too. If the main verb had been the bare present gosto, the embedded verb would be present subjunctive: gosto que me fale. The conditional triggers the imperfect subjunctive.
• Me falasse — proclisis of me before the subjunctive in a subordinate clause introduced by que. Que (and other subordinating conjunctions) are classic proclisis triggers. See Proclisis Triggers.
• Da sua experiência — de + a = da. A sua experiência with the possessive adjective + article is the standard PT-PT structure (dropping the article would sound slightly Brazilian).

Turn 5 — past narration

Trabalhei cinco anos numa consultora em Lisboa, onde coordenei projetos na área das energias renováveis. Saí no ano passado porque queria procurar novos desafios.

• Trabalhei, coordenei, saí — three PPS verbs, each representing a bounded, completed period or event. Note the 1st singular preterite endings: -ei for -ar verbs, -i for -er/-ir verbs.
• Numa = em + uma, obligatory contraction.
• Queria procurar — imperfeito of querer used for a continuing past state ("I was wanting, I felt like"). The imperfect here is the background to the PPS saí. See Preterite vs. Imperfect Overview.

Turn 7 — hypothetical conditional in a formal context

Fiquei com vontade de saber mais e, se fosse possível, de voltar a trabalhar em equipa.

• Fiquei com vontade de — ficar com vontade de + infinitivo is a PT-PT collocation meaning "to become interested in, to feel like". Ficar in its change-of-state sense: "I ended up wanting".
• Se fosse possível — parenthetical contrary-to-fact conditional with only the if-clause, used to hedge politely. Fosse is the imperfect subjunctive of ser. Spanish speakers will feel at home: si fuera posible.
• Voltar a trabalhar — voltar a + infinitivo means "to do something again" (literally "to return to doing"). A staple Portuguese periphrasis. Voltar a + verbo > fazer de novo in frequency.

Turn 7 (continued) — personal infinitive after "para"

Para trabalharem com clientes internacionais, sei que precisariam de alguém fluente em inglês e espanhol.

• Para trabalharem — another infinitivo pessoal, 3rd plural. The explicit subject is the company (vocês / a vossa equipa), and the ending -em carries that person information. Without the personal infinitive, Portuguese would need para que trabalhem (subjunctive), which is possible but heavier. Portuguese overwhelmingly prefers the personal infinitive after para with an expressed different subject.
• Precisariam de — condicional of precisar, 3rd plural, referring to the company. Precisar de + noun is obligatory in PT-PT: the preposition de is not optional, unlike in BR Portuguese, where precisar can sometimes drop the de.
• The whole clause hedges a statement about what the company would need, framing it as an inference rather than a bald claim.

Turn 8 — present subjunctive after "esperar que"

Esperamos que o nosso próximo consultor traga experiência internacional e boas competências de comunicação.

• Esperamos que + presente do conjuntivo — esperar que triggers the subjunctive because the hoped-for action is not yet a fact. Traga is the 3rd singular present subjunctive of trazer (irregular: eu traga, tu tragas, ele traga, nós tragamos, vós tragais (archaic), eles tragam).
• Why present subjunctive, not imperfect? Because the main verb esperamos is itself in the present. The sequence of tenses in Portuguese is strict: present main verb → present subjunctive dependent clause; past main verb → imperfect subjunctive dependent clause.
• Boas competências de comunicação — note the position of boas before competências. In recruiter Portuguese, evaluative adjectives (boas, excelentes, fortes) typically precede the noun.
• Competências is the PT-PT professional-register noun for "skills" in the holistic sense. English "skills" corresponds to both competências (formal) and capacidades (general). CV-writers almost always use competências.

Turn 8 (continued) — formal address and conditional question

Posso perguntar-lhe qual seria a remuneração líquida que consideraria adequada?

• Posso perguntar-lhe — poder
  • infinitive with enclitic indirect object -lhe (formal "to you"). The PT-PT hyphen-plus-indirect-pronoun enclisis is automatic on infinitives.
• Lhe here is the formal 3rd singular indirect object pronoun, agreeing with o senhor / a senhora / você / Dra. Sofia — all share the lhe form.
• Qual seria… — the conditional in a polite question ("what would be…"). Portuguese business speech uses the conditional almost as freely as French or Spanish for this kind of diplomatic framing. See Conditional for Polite Requests.
• Remuneração líquida — "net salary" (as opposed to bruta, "gross"). This is the standard business vocabulary.
• Que consideraria adequada — relative clause with the conditional consideraria (from considerar). Adequada agrees feminine singular with remuneração.

Turn 10 — hypothetical conditional, full form

Se tivesse de escolher, preferia esse modelo ou um presencial?

• Se tivesse de escolher, preferia… — contrary-to-fact conditional. Se
  • imperfeito do conjuntivo in the protasis (tivesse); imperfeito do indicativo (or condicional) in the apodosis (preferia).
• Note: Portuguese speakers often use the imperfeito do indicativo (preferia, queria, gostava) where standard grammar prescribes the conditional (preferiria, quereria, gostaria). Both are grammatical; the imperfect-for-conditional is slightly more colloquial, the conditional is slightly more formal. In writing, aim for the conditional; in speech, either is fine.
• Ter de + infinitivo = "to have to". In PT-PT, ter de is the default obligation expression; ter que exists but is more colloquial. See Ter de / Ter que + Infinitive.
• Presencial = "in-person". Contemporary HR vocabulary: presencial, remoto, híbrido, em teletrabalho.

Turn 11 — same pattern, candidate's response

Francamente, se pudesse escolher, ficaria com o híbrido.

• Se pudesse escolher — imperfect subjunctive of poder (pudesse) in the protasis.
• Ficaria com o híbrido — condicional of ficar in the apodosis. Ficar com = "to go for, to choose". In a shopping context, ficar com means "to take" ("I'll take it").
• Francamente — sentence adverb marking candour. Equivalent to "frankly" or "to be honest".

Turn 12 — future subjunctive after "se" + conditional perfect

Espero que possa começar em janeiro, se for selecionada. Teríamos entrado em contacto ainda esta semana com uma proposta formal.

• Espero que possa — esperar que
  • present subjunctive possa (3rd singular of poder). Parallel to esperamos que traga in turn 8.
• Se for selecionada — se
  • futuro do conjuntivo*
  (future subjunctive), 3rd singular of ser. When se points to a future real possibility, PT-PT uses the future subjunctive, not the present indicative. Fosse selecionada (imperfect subjunctive) would imply contrary-to-fact ("if she were to be selected, which is unlikely"); for selecionada implies an open, positive possibility. See Se-clauses with Future Subjunctive.
• Selecionada — AO90 spelling. The old spelling seleccionada dropped the silent c after the Orthographic Agreement of 1990.
• Teríamos entrado — condicional composto (conditional perfect): teria/terias/teria/teríamos/teríeis/teriam + particípio. This is the tense for hypothetical past actions: "we would have been in contact". In the context, the interviewer is framing the company's plan as counterfactual ("we would have been in touch this week anyway, regardless of this interview") — a mild professional courtesy. See Conditional Perfect.

Turn 13 — closing courtesy

Agradeço-lhe a oportunidade. Seria uma honra trabalhar convosco.

• Agradeço-lhe — present of agradecer with enclitic indirect object -lhe. Agradecer a alguém = "to thank someone"; in PT-PT the indirect object pronoun lhe takes the a-construction without a preposition: agradeço-lhe (I thank you).
• Convosco = com + vós. This is the plural formal-with-us form: "with you (plural)". Portuguese has a full set of comitative pronouns: comigo, contigo, consigo, connosco, convosco, com eles.
• Convosco is a PT-PT peculiarity: the old 2nd plural vós has disappeared from everyday speech, but its comitative form convosco survives in formal business and religious contexts as a polite plural "with you". BR Portuguese uses com vocês instead.

Formal address in PT-PT

European Portuguese formality is tiered. For a job interview — or any formal professional encounter with someone you do not know well — you will hear the following structures:

• Você in PT-PT sits in an uncomfortable zone. It is less formal than o senhor / a senhora but can feel presumptuous if used to someone older or higher-status. Safe rule: use o senhor / a senhora + 3sg verb with anyone you are not sure about. See Você vs. O Senhor.
• In Brazilian Portuguese, você has become the neutral "you" — but in Portugal it still carries a faint edge. Many speakers avoid the pronoun entirely and just use the 3rd singular verb with the name or title: O João trabalha aqui há muito tempo? ("Have you been working here long, João?").

Things to notice

• Conditional as politeness armour: gostaria, seria, preferia, teria, consideraria, precisariam. Every request, every question, every preference softens into the conditional. Direct present-tense equivalents (quero, é, prefiro, tenho, considero) would sound pushy in an interview.
• Mood selection is automatic: gostaria + de + infinitivo (same subject), gostaria que + imperfect subjunctive (different subject); esperar que + present subjunctive after a present main verb; se + future subjunctive for open future conditions, se + imperfect subjunctive for contrary-to-fact.
• The personal infinitive (antes de começarmos, para trabalharem) handles subordinate clauses with expressed subjects, where English would use a gerund or a full clause. This is the single most Portuguese feature of the dialogue.
• Convosco, lhe, connosco — the full set of formal pronouns. In BR Portuguese, com vocês would replace convosco; in PT-PT, convosco survives in business and formal speech.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

For deeper practice on the structures in this dialogue, see você vs. o senhor, the conditional for polite requests, imperfect subjunctive in if-clauses, and the personal infinitive after prepositions.