The third and more subtle use of the future subjunctive is in relative clauses that refer to an indefinite future participant: whoever, whatever, wherever, however. English turns these into fused compounds (whoever, whichever, wherever). Portuguese simply uses the bare relative pronoun (quem, o que, onde, como) and shifts the verb into the future subjunctive. The tense itself does the work of turning who into whoever. Once you internalise this, you unlock a uniquely elegant piece of EP — and a construction used constantly in everyday speech, proverbs, and news headlines alike.
The core pattern
An English speaker hearing quem chegar primeiro ganha has to decode: quem is "who," chegar is a future-subjunctive form of chegar ("to arrive"), and the sentence means whoever arrives first wins. The future subjunctive is doing the work that English packs into the -ever suffix.
Quem vier primeiro, ganha.
Whoever comes first wins.
Compro o que me recomendares.
I'll buy whatever you recommend.
Vai onde quiseres.
Go wherever you want.
Faz como quiseres.
Do as you wish. / Do it however you want.
Quem + future subjunctive — "whoever"
Quem as a free relative ("the one who, anyone who") takes the future subjunctive when the referent is indefinite and lies in the future. This is one of the most idiomatic EP constructions; you will hear it constantly.
Quem chegar primeiro paga o café.
Whoever arrives first pays for the coffee.
Quem quiser vir, pode.
Whoever wants to come, can.
Quem souber a resposta, levanta a mão.
Whoever knows the answer, raise your hand.
Quem não tiver bilhete, fica de fora.
Whoever doesn't have a ticket stays outside.
Quem puder ajudar, que venha.
Whoever can help, come forward.
Compare the indicative version, which refers to a known, specific person:
O rapaz que chegou primeiro paga o café.
The boy who arrived first pays for the coffee. (specific referent — indicative)
Quem vem aos sábados é a Ana.
The one who comes on Saturdays is Ana. (specific, habitual — indicative)
The difference is crystalline: the future subjunctive version projects into the future and is indifferent to who fills the slot; the indicative version has a specific, known filler.
O que + future subjunctive — "whatever"
O que ("what, that which") works the same way. In the future-subjunctive version, it means whatever, whichever thing. The indicative version points at something known.
Compro o que me recomendares.
I'll buy whatever you recommend. (indefinite future recommendation)
Digo o que souber.
I'll say whatever I know. (indefinite scope)
Faz o que te apetecer.
Do whatever you feel like.
Aceito o que decidires.
I accept whatever you decide.
O que fizeres, faz bem feito.
Whatever you do, do it well.
Contrast with the indicative, referring to a specific known thing:
Comprei o que me recomendaste.
I bought what you recommended (specific, already happened — indicative)
Faço o que quero.
I do what I want (general habit — indicative)
Onde + future subjunctive — "wherever"
Onde (where) with the future subjunctive means wherever. Similarly, aonde (to wherever) and donde / de onde (from wherever) take the future subjunctive in indefinite future contexts.
Vai onde quiseres.
Go wherever you want.
Onde estivermos, estaremos juntos.
Wherever we are, we'll be together.
Segue-me aonde eu for.
Follow me wherever I go.
Vou buscar-te onde estiveres.
I'll come pick you up wherever you are.
Trabalha onde puderes.
Work wherever you can.
Compare with the indicative (specific known location):
Vou onde ela mora.
I'm going to where she lives. (specific place — indicative)
Fui onde me pediste.
I went where you asked. (specific past — indicative)
Como / conforme + future subjunctive — "however, in whatever way"
Como and conforme mean as, in the way that. With the future subjunctive, they shift to however, in whatever way.
Faz como quiseres.
Do as you wish. / Do it however you want.
Paga conforme puderes.
Pay however you can.
Arruma como achares melhor.
Arrange it however you think best.
Veste-te como te apetecer.
Dress however you feel like.
Responde conforme for apropriado.
Answer in whatever way is appropriate.
Contrast with the indicative, which describes a specific or realised manner:
Fiz como me pediste.
I did it the way you asked. (specific — indicative)
Ele fala como o pai.
He talks like his father. (specific comparison — indicative)
Comparing moods: three versions of the same sentence
Let's line up three versions of the same structural sentence, showing how the mood shifts with the referent.
| Form | Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Indicative (specific) | Conheço a rapariga que mora ali. | I know the girl who lives there. (specific) |
| Present subjunctive (unknown) | Procuro uma rapariga que fale francês. | I'm looking for a girl (any girl) who speaks French. (hypothetical — see indefinite antecedents) |
| Future subjunctive (indefinite future) | Quem falar francês pode vir. | Whoever speaks French can come. (indefinite future referent) |
The three versions correspond to three different epistemic realities. If the referent exists and is known, the indicative does the job. If the referent is hypothetical in the present (does such a person exist?), the present subjunctive. If the referent belongs to a projected future scenario (whoever will happen to be...), the future subjunctive. This three-way split is what makes Portuguese mood so expressive — and what makes English relative-clause translation feel flattening by comparison.
Quanto + future subjunctive — "as much as / however much"
Quanto (how much, as much as) with the future subjunctive means as much as, however much, whatever quantity.
Come quanto quiseres.
Eat as much as you want.
Podes ficar quanto precisares.
You can stay as long as you need.
Paga quanto puderes.
Pay as much as you can.
Similarly sempre que is covered in the quando-clauses page, but note it pattern-matches here: sempre que quiseres, vem ("whenever you want, come").
Nesting: relative + temporal
Complex sentences often chain two future subjunctives: a relative clause inside a temporal clause, or vice versa. EP does this fluently.
Quando souberes quem vier, avisa-me.
When you know who's coming, let me know. (quando + future subj., quem + future subj.)
Se encontrares alguém que saiba, pergunta.
If you find someone who knows, ask. (se + future subj., alguém que + present subj. — different structure)
Onde fores, faz o que te parecer correto.
Wherever you go, do whatever seems right to you.
Notice in the middle example that alguém que saiba uses the present subjunctive, not the future — because alguém is a hypothetical individual (see indefinite antecedents), not an indefinite future relative. The distinction is subtle but real: quem + future subjunctive = whoever (free relative); alguém que + present subjunctive = someone who (indefinite noun phrase).
A Portuguese proverb tradition
The future subjunctive in relative clauses is the backbone of a huge number of Portuguese proverbs. These are frozen in the construction and worth learning for cultural fluency.
Quem tudo quer, tudo perde.
Whoever wants everything, loses everything. (note: quem + present indicative here — proverbial habitual truth)
Quem não arrisca não petisca.
Whoever doesn't risk, doesn't snack. (= nothing ventured, nothing gained — present indicative, gnomic)
Onde há fumo, há fogo.
Where there's smoke, there's fire. (indicative — general truth)
Note that many Portuguese proverbs use the present indicative with quem, not the future subjunctive — because they express timeless general truths, not specific future scenarios. The future subjunctive shows up in proverbs that project into an indefinite future:
O que for, será.
Whatever will be, will be.
Deus ajuda quem se ajudar.
God helps whoever helps themselves.
Quem avisa, amigo é.
He who warns you is a friend. (present indicative — proverbial truth, not future)
Common mistakes
❌ Quem chega primeiro ganha o prémio.
Incorrect if you mean a specific future race — the referent is indefinite and lies in the future.
✅ Quem chegar primeiro ganha o prémio.
Whoever arrives first wins the prize.
❌ Compro o que me recomendas.
Incorrect for a future recommendation — this reads as 'I'll buy the specific thing you (always) recommend.'
✅ Compro o que me recomendares.
I'll buy whatever you recommend.
❌ Vai onde queres.
Incorrect — the indicative here means 'go to the specific place you already want,' losing the 'wherever' meaning.
✅ Vai onde quiseres.
Go wherever you want.
❌ Faz como queres.
Incorrect for 'however you wish' — the indicative reads as 'do it the way you (currently/habitually) want to.'
✅ Faz como quiseres.
Do it however you wish.
❌ Quem quer que saiba a resposta.
Incorrect — 'quem quer que' is a different construction (see common expressions); bare quem + future subjunctive would be 'quem souber a resposta.'
✅ Quem souber a resposta pode responder.
Whoever knows the answer can answer.
The most common error is using the indicative where English speakers expect the pattern the one who does X. If the referent is indefinite and projected into the future, it has to be the future subjunctive.
Key takeaways
- Quem, o que, onde, como, conforme, quanto
- future subjunctive form the Portuguese equivalent of English whoever, whatever, wherever, however, however much.
- The future subjunctive itself — not the pronoun — marks indefinite future reference. The pronoun stays bare.
- The indicative version of the same sentence carries a completely different meaning: specific referent, known, or habitual truth.
- Many Portuguese proverbs use quem
- present indicative for timeless truths, and quem
- future subjunctive for future projection. Both patterns are native; they encode different kinds of generality.
- present indicative for timeless truths, and quem
- The construction quem quer que (with quer que) is a different idiom — see common expressions with the future subjunctive.
Cross-references
- Future Subjunctive with Quando — temporal clauses.
- Future Subjunctive with Se Clauses — open conditionals.
- Future Subjunctive: Common Expressions — quem quer que, seja como for, and other frozen phrases.
- Future Subjunctive vs Present Subjunctive — choosing between the two.
- Indefinite Antecedents — alguém que, algum X que, the present-subjunctive counterpart.
Related Topics
- Future Subjunctive with Quando and Temporal ConjunctionsB1 — How European Portuguese uses the future subjunctive (futuro do conjuntivo) after quando, assim que, logo que, enquanto, sempre que, mal, depois que, and até — the tense that anchors unrealised future events in time clauses.
- Future Subjunctive with Se (Open Conditionals)B1 — How European Portuguese builds open conditional sentences with se + future subjunctive, the three-way conditional typology (open / hypothetical / counterfactual), and why English speakers consistently get this wrong.
- Common Expressions with the Future Subjunctive (Seja como for, Venha o que vier)B2 — The frozen expressions and idiomatic set phrases that use the future subjunctive in everyday European Portuguese — seja como for, haja o que houver, custe o que custar, onde quer que, and more.
- Future Subjunctive vs Present Subjunctive: Choosing the Right OneB2 — The decision framework for choosing between the future subjunctive and the present subjunctive in European Portuguese — trigger types, minimal pairs, and the crucial insight that only some contexts allow the future subjunctive.
- Indefinite Antecedents in Relative ClausesB2 — When a relative clause refers to something unknown, hypothetical, or nonexistent, Portuguese shifts from the indicative to the subjunctive.