A wish about something that has already passed is grammatically different from a wish about the future. "I hope he comes" points at an open future; "I wish he had come" points at a closed past. Portuguese splits these two kinds of wishing with surgical precision, using the imperfeito do conjuntivo (imperfect subjunctive) for the first layer of pastward wishing, and the mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo (pluperfect subjunctive) for wishes about events that did or did not happen. This page walks through both, plus the archaic-but-alive quisera and the heartfelt oxalá and tomara que for unreal wishes.
This is genuinely one of the trickiest corners of Portuguese grammar. Not because the forms are hard — you already know them from the conditional and the se-clause patterns — but because the logic is subtle, and because it sits right next to hypothetical if-clauses, which use the same tenses for a related-but-different purpose.
The core pattern: past-shifted wishing
When the main wish verb is in the past (preterite or imperfect), the wished-about verb takes the imperfect subjunctive instead of the present subjunctive. This is a simple sequence-of-tenses rule.
| Present wishing | Past-shifted wishing |
|---|---|
| Quero que venhas. (I want you to come.) | Queria que viesses. (I wanted you to come. / I'd like you to come.) |
| Espero que cheguem a tempo. | Esperava que chegassem a tempo. |
| Peço-te que tenhas calma. | Pedi-te que tivesses calma. |
Queria que fizesses isto por mim, se não te importasses.
I'd like you to do this for me, if you wouldn't mind.
A minha mãe sempre quis que eu estudasse medicina.
My mother always wanted me to study medicine.
Esperávamos que tu chegasses mais cedo — começámos a preocupar-nos.
We were hoping you'd arrive earlier — we were starting to worry.
The queria que... structure is doing double duty here: it is both a genuine past wish ("I wanted you to come") and a softened present wish ("I'd like you to come"). Context tells you which. We cover the politeness use in detail on imperfect subjunctive for politeness.
Oxalá with the imperfect subjunctive — the unreachable wish
You have already met oxalá with the present subjunctive, where it means "I hope" or "let's hope" about something still possible. Paired with the imperfect subjunctive, oxalá becomes something quite different: an unreal wish — a longing for a state of affairs that does not currently hold and probably cannot hold.
Oxalá ele pudesse vir connosco.
If only he could come with us. (but he can't)
Oxalá eu tivesse mais tempo para ler.
If only I had more time to read.
Oxalá não chovesse no dia do casamento.
If only it weren't going to rain on the wedding day.
The semantic shift is important. Oxalá venhas ("I hope you come") treats the wish as still achievable. Oxalá viesses ("If only you would come") treats it as unlikely or impossible — the speaker is expressing longing for a state of affairs they do not expect to reach. English reaches for "if only" or "I wish" in exactly this slot.
Tomara que with the imperfect subjunctive
Tomara que works the same way. With the present subjunctive it means "I hope"; with the imperfect subjunctive, it means "I wish" in the counter-to-fact sense.
Tomara que eu tivesse a tua paciência.
I wish I had your patience.
Tomara que isto fosse mais fácil.
I wish this were easier.
Tomara que o Benfica ganhasse um título de vez em quando.
I wish Benfica would win a title every once in a while.
Like oxalá, tomara que is warm, expressive, and a bit more colourful than a plain gostaria que. It is slightly more colloquial in EP and slightly more common in Brazil, but Portuguese speakers do use it, especially in animated speech.
Quisera — the standalone wish form
European Portuguese preserves a beautiful archaism: the pluperfect indicative of querer — quisera, quiseras, quisera, quiséramos, quiseram — used as a standalone wish marker. Historically this is a pluperfect indicative form, but in modern usage it functions exactly like an optative ("would that I...") with imperfect-subjunctive force.
Quisera eu ter vinte anos outra vez.
Would that I were twenty again. / Oh, to be twenty again.
Quisera ela ter tido essa coragem na altura.
If only she had had that courage at the time.
Quisera que tivesses vindo à minha formatura.
I do wish you had come to my graduation.
The register is elevated: literary, nostalgic, speech-making. You will find it in poetry, obituaries, carefully crafted essays, and the occasional flourish in spoken Portuguese. It never sounds casual.
Note the last example: quisera que pairs with the pluperfect subjunctive tivesses vindo to mark a wish about something that did not happen. This is the highest-register way of expressing a past regret.
Pluperfect subjunctive — wishes about what did not happen
When your wish is about something that already did not happen in the past — a regret, a counterfactual about a finished event — you use the pluperfect subjunctive (mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo). It is built from the imperfect subjunctive of ter plus the past participle:
| Subject | ter (imperfect subjunctive) |
|
|---|---|---|
| eu | tivesse | falado / comido / partido / vindo / dito… |
| tu | tivesses | ″ |
| ele / ela / você | tivesse | ″ |
| nós | tivéssemos | ″ |
| eles / elas / vocês | tivessem | ″ |
This is the tense of "I wish you had come", "if only I had known", "would that he had spoken up" — all the wishes that arrive too late.
Quisera que tivesses vindo à festa — foi inesquecível.
I wish you had come to the party — it was unforgettable.
Oxalá tivesse sabido disso antes.
If only I had known about that earlier.
Tomara que ele tivesse aceitado a proposta. Agora é tarde.
I wish he had accepted the offer. Now it's too late.
Queria tanto que o meu pai tivesse visto o neto.
I so wanted my father to have seen his grandchild.
The last example deserves a moment's attention. Queria tanto que... is an imperfect querer, which already sounds regretful; following it with tivesse visto (pluperfect subjunctive) drills into a specific past event that did not happen. This is a delicate, moving construction that Portuguese does beautifully.
Antes + pluperfect subjunctive — the regret-intensifier
A very common construction, especially in spoken EP: place antes ("rather / better") before a pluperfect subjunctive clause to mean "would that X had happened instead". It is a wishful counterfactual with an undertone of regret or second-guessing.
Antes me tivesses dito — eu tinha mudado os planos.
You should have told me — I would have changed my plans.
Antes não tivéssemos ido àquele restaurante. Que jantar horrível.
I wish we hadn't gone to that restaurant. What a horrible dinner.
Antes o João tivesse ficado calado. Agora toda a gente sabe.
João should have kept quiet. Now everyone knows.
Grammatically, antes here is a kind of wishful "rather" — the clause expresses a counterfactual preference. The tone is usually slightly reproachful or resigned. It is a feature of mature, expressive spoken European Portuguese.
Distinguishing wishes from if-clauses
This is where English speakers (and, frankly, many learners) get tangled. Both past-oriented wishes and past-counterfactual if-clauses use the same tenses — imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive. The structure tells them apart.
| Construction | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
| oxalá / tomara que / quisera que + impf. subj. | unreal wish, present-reaching | Oxalá soubesse a resposta. (I wish I knew the answer.) |
| oxalá / tomara que / quisera que + pluperf. subj. | unreal wish, past-reaching | Oxalá tivesse sabido a resposta. (I wish I had known the answer.) |
| se + impf. subj., (main clause cond./impf.) | hypothetical if-clause | Se soubesse a resposta, dizia-te. (If I knew the answer, I'd tell you.) |
| se + pluperf. subj., (main clause cond. perf.) | past counterfactual if-clause | Se tivesse sabido a resposta, tinha-te dito. (If I had known, I would've told you.) |
The tense choice inside the dependent clause is exactly the same. What differs is:
- Wishes stand alone as a single-clause utterance: a longing expressed into the air. Oxalá tivesse sabido.
- If-clauses set up a consequence in a main clause: Se tivesse sabido, tinha-te dito.
For the full treatment of if-clauses, see conditional in hypothetical sentences.
Queria que + imperfect subjunctive — two readings
We need to address queria que directly because it is by far the most common past-oriented wish construction in everyday Portuguese — and because it has two distinct readings that native speakers use fluidly.
Reading 1: genuine past wish
When you are reporting a wish you had at some past moment:
Quando tinha dez anos, queria que os meus pais me comprassem uma bicicleta.
When I was ten, I wanted my parents to buy me a bicycle.
A minha avó sempre queria que fôssemos almoçar com ela aos domingos.
My grandmother always wanted us to have lunch with her on Sundays.
Here queria is a straightforward imperfect indicative, narrating a past state of wanting. The embedded verb is imperfect subjunctive by the usual sequence-of-tenses rule.
Reading 2: softened present wish
In spoken European Portuguese, queria que + imperfect subjunctive is also the preferred polite way to express a present wish — softer than the blunt quero que. This is a conditional-like use of the imperfect: the imperfect queria replaces the conditional quereria, and the embedded verb takes the imperfect subjunctive to match.
Queria que me trouxesses uma sandes de fiambre, se passares na pastelaria.
I'd like you to bring me a ham sandwich, if you pass by the bakery.
Queríamos que nos mostrasses a casa antes de decidirmos.
We'd like you to show us the house before we decide.
Both readings use identical forms. Context — tense references elsewhere, the situation of speech — tells you which one is in play.
Gostaria / gostava que + imperfect subjunctive
Gostar que is another common wish verb, and when it is in the conditional or imperfect ("would like"), the dependent verb goes into the imperfect subjunctive. The colloquial EP preference is gostava que over the more formal gostaria que.
Gostava que me dissesses a verdade, ainda que doesse.
I'd like you to tell me the truth, even if it hurt.
Gostaríamos muito que viesses jantar connosco no sábado.
We'd really like you to come to dinner with us on Saturday.
Gostava tanto que o meu irmão encontrasse alguém que o fizesse feliz.
I'd so like my brother to find someone who made him happy.
Comparison with English
English distinguishes wishes using wish + past / past perfect:
| English | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| I wish I knew the answer. | Oxalá soubesse a resposta. / Quem me dera saber a resposta. |
| I wish you would come. | Oxalá viesses. / Quisera que viesses. |
| I wish I had studied more. | Oxalá tivesse estudado mais. |
| If only he had called. | Antes ele tivesse ligado. / Oxalá ele tivesse ligado. |
| I wanted you to come. | Queria que viesses. |
| I would like you to come. | Gostava que viesses. / Queria que viesses. |
The key difference: English uses a fossilised past-tense trick (I wish I knew, not I wish I know) to signal unreality. Portuguese uses the full subjunctive apparatus. The English form is easier to produce but buries the logic; the Portuguese form is more demanding but keeps the irrealis meaning visible.
One more standalone construction: quem me dera
Quem me dera (literally "who would give me") is a beloved idiomatic standalone used to express a heartfelt, often impossible wish. It is followed by an infinitive or a que-clause with imperfect subjunctive.
Quem me dera ter vinte anos outra vez.
Oh to be twenty again.
Quem me dera que ele estivesse aqui.
How I wish he were here.
Quem nos dera poder ficar mais uma semana.
How we wish we could stay another week.
It is one of the most characteristically Portuguese expressions of longing you will meet. Use it when you want the wish to land with feeling.
Common Mistakes
❌ Oxalá ele pode vir amanhã.
Incorrect — *pode* is indicative. *Oxalá* always takes the subjunctive.
✅ Oxalá ele possa vir amanhã.
Hope he can come tomorrow. (open hope)
✅ Oxalá ele pudesse vir amanhã.
If only he could come tomorrow. (unreal wish)
The two subjunctive versions express different attitudes — hopeful vs. resigned — but both are required over the indicative.
❌ Queria que tu vens cedo.
Incorrect — *queria* is past, so the dependent verb must be imperfect subjunctive.
✅ Queria que tu viesses cedo.
I'd like you to come early. / I wanted you to come early.
Sequence of tenses: past main clause requires past subjunctive in the dependent clause. This is one of the most audible errors Portuguese speakers notice in learners.
❌ Oxalá tivesse sabido isto antes — mas agora vou estudar.
Mismatch — you said a past-reaching wish but then signalled a future action. If the intent is forward-looking, use: *Oxalá saiba disto antes do exame.*
✅ Oxalá tivesse sabido isto antes. Agora é tarde.
If only I had known this earlier. Now it's too late.
The pluperfect subjunctive seals off the past. Don't use it for wishes about events you can still act on.
❌ Se tivesse dito, eu tinha vindo. — used as a wish on its own.
This is an if-clause, not a wish. Without a main clause it reads as incomplete.
✅ Antes me tivesses dito. / Oxalá me tivesses dito.
If only you had told me.
To express the wish alone, use antes or oxalá. A bare se-clause in speech sounds cut-off.
❌ Quem me dá ter vinte anos outra vez.
Incorrect — the idiom is *quem me dera*, not *quem me dá*.
✅ Quem me dera ter vinte anos outra vez.
Oh to be twenty again.
Dera is the fossilised pluperfect indicative of dar. The phrase is frozen; don't try to update the verb tense.
❌ Quisera que tu vás ao casamento.
Incorrect — *quisera que* is past-shifted and takes the imperfect subjunctive.
✅ Quisera que tu fosses ao casamento.
I do wish you would go to the wedding. (elevated)
Even though quisera sounds archaic, it follows the normal sequence-of-tenses rule: past wish word → past subjunctive in the dependent clause.
Key takeaways
- Past-shifted wishing: when the main wish verb is in the past (queria, esperava, pedi), the dependent verb takes the imperfect subjunctive.
- Oxalá, tomara que
- imperfect subjunctive = unreal wish about the present or future ("if only").
- Oxalá, tomara que
- pluperfect subjunctive = wish about a past event that did or did not happen ("if only... had").
- Quisera and quem me dera are elevated / literary ways to open a standalone wish. Both take an infinitive or a que
- imperfect subjunctive clause.
- Antes + pluperfect subjunctive expresses a counterfactual regret ("would that X had happened instead").
- Wishes and if-clauses share tense forms but differ in structure — wishes stand alone; if-clauses set up a consequence.
Next: learn how the imperfect subjunctive also does double duty as a politeness marker in request constructions — one of the most distinctive corners of European Portuguese register.
Related Topics
- Subjunctive Mood OverviewB1 — What the conjuntivo is in European Portuguese, why it exists, and when the language requires it — a tour of irrealis across the present, imperfect, and future subjunctive
- Subjunctive of Wishes and DesiresB1 — Why querer que, esperar que, desejar que, and similar wish-verbs trigger the present subjunctive, plus the crucial same-subject rule that sends you to an infinitive instead.
- Imperfect Subjunctive as a Politeness SoftenerB2 — The distinctively Portuguese use of quisesse, pudesse, and similar imperfect subjunctive forms in main clauses as ultra-polite requests — and how they compare with the more common gostaria, queria, and se fizesse o favor.
- Conditional in Hypothetical SentencesB1 — How the conditional pairs with the imperfect subjunctive to describe hypothetical, counterfactual, and unreal situations.
- Mais-que-Perfeito OverviewB1 — Expressing actions completed before another past action -- the two Portuguese pluperfects at a glance
- Future Subjunctive OverviewB1 — The futuro do conjuntivo — a living, everyday tense in European Portuguese that marks uncertain future events after temporal, conditional, and relative triggers. Almost extinct in Spanish; thriving in Portuguese.