If there is one grammar topic where the conditional truly earns its keep, it is the hypothetical if-sentence: If I had more money, I would buy a house. This is the English second-conditional construction, and its Portuguese counterpart is one of the core patterns every B1 learner needs to master. Alongside it sit two siblings — the "real" first conditional and the "past counterfactual" third conditional — each with its own tense pairing. This page walks through all three types, then drills into the second conditional, where the simple conditional lives.
The three conditional types at a glance
Portuguese conditional sentences line up like this:
| Type | Meaning | Se-clause | Main clause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type 1 (real) | open future possibility | future subjunctive | present or ir-future |
| Type 2 (hypothetical) | unreal/hypothetical present or future | imperfect subjunctive | conditional or imperfect indicative |
| Type 3 (counterfactual) | what could have happened but didn't | pluperfect subjunctive | conditional perfect or pluperfect indicative |
Each type pairs a specific subjunctive tense in the se-clause with a specific tense in the main clause. This is non-negotiable: swapping in the wrong tense is one of the most audible grammar errors in Portuguese.
Type 1: real conditions about the future
When the condition is realistic — something that might actually happen — Portuguese uses the future subjunctive after se, and either the present indicative or ir + infinitive in the main clause.
Se tiver tempo amanhã, vou ao cinema contigo.
If I have time tomorrow, I'll go to the cinema with you.
Se chover, ficamos em casa.
If it rains, we'll stay home.
Se puderes, liga-me assim que chegares.
If you can, call me as soon as you arrive.
Note that what English expresses with a bare present (if I have time), Portuguese expresses with the future subjunctive (se tiver tempo). This is the one place where se takes the future subjunctive rather than the indicative — and it is one of the most useful subjunctive tenses in the language. See Future Subjunctive Overview.
Type 2: hypothetical present or future
This is the conditional's home territory. The condition is not expected to come true — it is imagined, wished, or hypothetical: If I had a million euros, if I were you, if we lived by the sea. Portuguese uses:
Se + imperfect subjunctive, conditional (or imperfect indicative) in the main clause.
Se tivesse dinheiro, compraria uma casa em Cascais.
If I had money, I would buy a house in Cascais.
Se fosse a ti, aceitava a proposta sem hesitar.
If I were you, I'd accept the offer without hesitating.
Se morássemos no Porto, íamos ao Douro todos os fins de semana.
If we lived in Porto, we'd go to the Douro every weekend.
Notice the tense pairing: tivesse (imperfect subjunctive) with compraria (conditional), fosse with aceitava (imperfect indicative standing in for conditional), morássemos with íamos. This is the pattern to internalize.
The imperfect indicative as a spoken substitute
In colloquial European Portuguese, the imperfect indicative routinely replaces the conditional in the main clause. Both are correct; one is formal and the other casual.
Se tivesse dinheiro, compraria uma casa. (formal / written)
If I had money, I would buy a house.
Se tivesse dinheiro, comprava uma casa. (casual / spoken)
If I had money, I would buy a house.
Both sentences mean exactly the same thing. The first is what you will read in a novel, a newspaper, or a careful letter; the second is what you will hear on a terrace over coffee. Native speakers shift between them constantly, often within the same conversation.
More type-2 examples
Se soubesse cozinhar melhor, convidava-te para jantar cá em casa.
If I knew how to cook better, I'd invite you over for dinner.
Se os meus pais fossem mais flexíveis, aproveitaria muito mais a universidade.
If my parents were more flexible, I would enjoy university much more.
Se pudéssemos escolher qualquer cidade para morar, escolheríamos Lisboa sem hesitação.
If we could choose any city to live in, we would choose Lisbon without hesitation.
Seria muito mais feliz se vivesse mais perto do mar.
I would be much happier if I lived closer to the sea.
Inverting the clauses
The se-clause and the main clause can appear in either order. Putting the main clause first doesn't change the meaning; it just shifts the emphasis.
Comprava um carro novo se tivesse o dinheiro — mas não tenho.
I'd buy a new car if I had the money — but I don't.
Se tivesse o dinheiro, comprava um carro novo.
If I had the money, I'd buy a new car.
A comma separates the two clauses when the se-clause comes first. When the main clause comes first, the comma is usually optional.
Type 3: past counterfactual
The third type concerns something that could have happened in the past but didn't. Portuguese pairs the pluperfect subjunctive in the se-clause with the conditional perfect (or the pluperfect indicative in speech) in the main clause.
Se tivesse estudado mais, teria passado no exame.
If I had studied more, I would have passed the exam.
Se tivéssemos saído mais cedo, tínhamos apanhado o comboio.
If we had left earlier, we would have caught the train.
Teria ido ao concerto se me tivesses avisado a tempo.
I would have gone to the concert if you had told me in time.
The details of the conditional perfect are covered in Conditional Perfect Overview. What you need to notice here is the symmetry with the type-2 pattern: one tense pair for "right now hypothetically," another pair for "back then counterfactually."
Mixing types 2 and 3
In real Portuguese, speakers often mix the two when the se-clause is about the past but the consequence reaches into the present, or vice versa.
Se tivesse começado a aprender piano em criança, já tocaria razoavelmente bem.
If I had started learning piano as a child, I would already play fairly well.
Here the se-clause is pluperfect subjunctive (past counterfactual) and the main clause is conditional (present result). This is perfectly natural Portuguese — the tenses follow the meaning, not some rigid template.
The anchor pattern: se + imperfect subjunctive
The single most important thing to memorize is that after se in a hypothetical clause, Portuguese uses the imperfect subjunctive — not the indicative, not the conditional, not the future. English speakers constantly reach for the wrong tense here.
| Subject | ter | ser | ir | estar | poder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eu | tivesse | fosse | fosse | estivesse | pudesse |
| tu | tivesses | fosses | fosses | estivesses | pudesses |
| ele | tivesse | fosse | fosse | estivesse | pudesse |
| nós | tivéssemos | fôssemos | fôssemos | estivéssemos | pudéssemos |
| eles | tivessem | fossem | fossem | estivessem | pudessem |
These are the five most common verbs in hypothetical se-clauses. The imperfect subjunctive has its own full page at Imperfect Subjunctive, but for now, recognize the shape: a form ending in -sse in the singular and -ssem in the plural.
Se eu tivesse mais tempo livre, começaria a aprender japonês.
If I had more free time, I would start learning Japanese.
Se fosses à festa, divertias-te imenso.
If you went to the party, you'd have a great time.
Se pudéssemos viajar no tempo, para onde irias?
If we could travel through time, where would you go?
Other hypothetical markers besides se
While se is by far the most common trigger, a few other words introduce hypothetical clauses that pair with the conditional.
Caso (in case / if)
More formal than se, and takes the imperfect subjunctive:
Caso precisasse de ajuda, quem contactaria primeiro?
If you needed help, who would you contact first?
A não ser que (unless)
Takes the imperfect subjunctive with a conditional main clause:
A não ser que chovesse muito, faríamos o piquenique no domingo.
Unless it rained a lot, we would have the picnic on Sunday.
Como se (as if)
Always takes the imperfect subjunctive; the main clause can be in any appropriate tense:
Ele fala como se soubesse tudo sobre política.
He talks as if he knew everything about politics.
Comparison with English
English second-conditional sentences use a past tense in the if-clause (if I had a million) and would + base verb in the main clause. Portuguese uses the imperfect subjunctive (se tivesse um milhão) and the conditional (compraria) or imperfect indicative (comprava). The mechanical mapping is:
| English | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| if + past tense (simple past) | se + imperfect subjunctive |
| would + base verb | conditional (or imperfect indicative colloquially) |
Three pitfalls for English speakers:
- English lets you say if I was, but Portuguese requires the subjunctive se eu fosse. Never se eu era.
- English would looks like a modal verb; Portuguese folds the would into the verb ending (-ria).
- The English second conditional uses the same tense in the if-clause whether you are referring to the present or the future (if I had covers both "if I had right now" and "if I had tomorrow"). Portuguese works the same way — the imperfect subjunctive covers both.
Common Mistakes
❌ Se eu tinha mais tempo, ia ao cinema.
Incorrect — indicative *tinha* instead of subjunctive *tivesse*.
✅ Se eu tivesse mais tempo, ia ao cinema.
If I had more time, I'd go to the cinema.
This is the single most common mistake English speakers make. Se tinha does exist in Portuguese, but it means "whenever I had" — a repeated past habit, not a hypothetical condition. For hypothetical, it must be the imperfect subjunctive: se tivesse.
❌ Se ela virá amanhã, ficarei feliz.
Incorrect — future indicative after *se*.
✅ Se ela vier amanhã, ficarei feliz.
If she comes tomorrow, I'll be happy.
Portuguese never uses the future indicative after se. For a realistic future condition (type 1), use the future subjunctive vier. For a hypothetical future (type 2), use the imperfect subjunctive viesse. But never virá after se.
❌ Se eu seria rico, compraria uma ilha.
Incorrect — conditional in the *se*-clause.
✅ Se eu fosse rico, comprava uma ilha.
If I were rich, I would buy an island.
The conditional goes in the main clause, never in the se-clause. Inside se, use the imperfect subjunctive (fosse).
❌ Se eu fosse tido mais cuidado, não teria partido o copo.
Incorrect — confused subjunctive forms.
✅ Se eu tivesse tido mais cuidado, não teria partido o copo.
If I had been more careful, I wouldn't have broken the glass.
For past counterfactuals (type 3), the se-clause takes the pluperfect subjunctive: tivesse + past participle (tivesse tido, not fosse tido). The auxiliary is ter, not ser.
❌ Se pudesse, irei de férias para o Japão.
Mixed tenses — hypothetical subjunctive with real-future indicative.
✅ Se pudesse, ia/iria de férias para o Japão.
If I could, I'd go on vacation to Japan.
Pair the imperfect subjunctive with the conditional or imperfect indicative — not with a simple future. Consistency of register matters: se pudesse calls for ia/iria, not irei.
❌ Comprava uma casa se eu teria dinheiro.
Incorrect — conditional in the se-clause again.
✅ Comprava uma casa se tivesse dinheiro.
I'd buy a house if I had money.
Regardless of clause order, the conditional stays in the main clause and the imperfect subjunctive stays in the se-clause. Do not move them around.
Key takeaways
- Portuguese has three conditional sentence types, each with its own tense pair.
- Type 2 (hypothetical) uses se + imperfect subjunctive with the conditional (formal) or imperfect indicative (colloquial) in the main clause: se tivesse, compraria / comprava.
- In European Portuguese speech, the imperfect indicative is more common than the conditional in the main clause of type-2 sentences.
- Never use the indicative or the future after se in a hypothetical clause — always the subjunctive.
- The conditional goes in the main clause, not in the se-clause.
- Other hypothetical triggers like caso, a não ser que, and como se also take the imperfect subjunctive.
- For past counterfactuals, use the pluperfect subjunctive
Related Topics
- Conditional Tense OverviewB1 — Formation and uses of the conditional (futuro do pretérito)