Breakdown of Não esqueça de acender a luz quando entrar.
não
not
quando
when
a luz
the light
esquecer de
to forget
acender
to turn on
entrar
to enter
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Questions & Answers about Não esqueça de acender a luz quando entrar.
What grammatical mood is used in Não esqueça and why?
Não esqueça is a negative imperative formed with the present subjunctive. In Portuguese, to tell someone not to do something, you use “não” plus the present‐subjunctive form of the verb. Since the implied subject is você (third person), the subjunctive form of esquecer is esqueça.
Why is there a de after esquecer?
When you talk about “forgetting to do something,” Portuguese uses the construction esquecer de + infinitive. So esquecer de acender literally means “to forget to turn on.” Without de, the meaning can shift or become ungrammatical in this context.
Why is acender in the infinitive instead of another conjugated form?
Because acender is the action you might forget, it remains in the infinitive as the complement of esquecer de. You’re not giving a second command (“acenda!”), you’re naming what must not be forgotten.
Why is luz preceded by a (feminine article)?
In Portuguese, luz is a feminine noun. Every singular feminine noun takes the article a (or uma). So “the light” translates to a luz, not o luz.
Why is entrar in the infinitive form, instead of entra or entre?
Here, quando entrar is an infinitive clause implying “when you enter.” In colloquial Brazilian Portuguese, if the subject of both verbs is the same (you), you can omit the pronoun and use the infinitive. Formally you could also say quando você entrar.
Could I include você and change entrar accordingly?
Yes. A more explicit version is Não esqueça de acender a luz quando você entrar. Many Brazilians still use the infinitive entrar here, but if you strictly follow the rule for future-time clauses, you might opt for the present subjunctive entre: quando você entre.
Are acender a luz and ligar a luz interchangeable?
Generally yes. Acender a luz literally means “light the light,” but idiomatically it’s “turn on the light.” Ligar a luz (“switch on the light”) is equally common. You can say Não esqueça de ligar a luz quando entrar with no change in meaning.
Why is there no reflexive pronoun (se) in Não esqueça?
Portuguese verbs can optionally be pronominal, but esquecer + de + infinitive does not require se. Native usage is simply esquecer de (“to forget to”). Adding se (i.e. não se esqueça de) is also correct and slightly more formal, but not obligatory.
How would this sentence look in the tu form?
If you address someone as tu, you switch both verb forms to the second-person subjunctive. You get:
Não te esqueças de acender a luz quando entrares.