Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Se sobrar um ingresso extra para o show das oito horas, eu ligarei para você. - If there is an extra ticket left for the eight‑o'clock concert, I will call you.

Se sobrar uses the future subjunctive of sobrar. In Portuguese, when you talk about a future condition that may or may not happen, you normally use:

se
- future subjunctive in the if-clause, and
future indicative (or ir
- infinitive) in the main clause.

So:

Se sobrar um ingresso… eu ligarei…
= If there is (ends up being) an extra ticket… I will call…

Se sobra would be present indicative (more like “if it usually remains / if it remains”), which doesn’t fit a specific future situation.
Se sobrará (future indicative) is not used in this type of conditional clause; Portuguese prefers future subjunctive after se when the condition is about the future.

What exactly is the future subjunctive, and when do I use it?

The future subjunctive in Portuguese expresses events that are:

in the future
uncertain or dependent on a condition (if/when/as soon as/etc.)

It’s very common after conjunctions like:

se – if
quando – when
assim que – as soon as
enquanto – while (in some future contexts)

Examples:

Se eu tiver tempo, eu vou. – If I have time, I’ll go.
Quando você chegar, me liga. – When you arrive, call me.
Se sobrar um ingresso, eu ligarei para você. – If there’s a ticket left over, I’ll call you.

In all these, the event in the se/quando clause is in the future and not guaranteed, so Portuguese uses the future subjunctive rather than a present or future indicative.

How is the future subjunctive of sobrar formed? Is there a rule?

Yes. For regular verbs, the future subjunctive is based on the third-person plural of the preterite (simple past), with endings adjusted.

Take the 3rd person plural of the simple past:
- eles sobraram (they had left over)
Remove -am:
- sobrar-
Add the future subjunctive endings:
- eu sobrar
- tu sobrar
- ele/ela/você sobrar
- nós sobrarmos
- vós sobrardes (rare in Brazil)
- eles/elas/vocês sobrarem

So se sobrar = “if it (a ticket) is left over / if there ends up being a spare” in the future.

Could I say Se tiver um ingresso extra… instead of Se sobrar um ingresso extra…?

Yes, you can, and it’s very common:

Se tiver um ingresso extra para o show das oito horas, eu ligarei para você.

The difference:

Se sobrar um ingresso extra…
Emphasizes that all tickets might be taken, but if one is left over, then you’ll call. It suggests tickets are scarce or being distributed.
Se tiver um ingresso extra…
More neutral: if there is / if I have / if you have an extra ticket (depending on context).

Both are natural; sobrar adds the nuance of “remaining / being left over.”

What does sobrar really mean, and how is it used in other sentences?

Sobrar means “to be left over,” “to remain,” or “to be more than needed.”

Common uses:

Sobrou comida. – There was food left over.
Vai sobrar bolo para amanhã. – There will be cake left for tomorrow.
Sobrou dinheiro depois da viagem. – There was money left after the trip.
Se sobrar tempo, a gente faz mais um exercício. – If there’s time left, we’ll do one more exercise.

In your sentence, se sobrar um ingresso extra literally means if an extra ticket is left over, which is equivalent to “if there’s an extra ticket available.”

Why do we use ingresso here? Could I say bilhete or ticket?

In Brazilian Portuguese:

ingresso is the usual word for a ticket to an event:
- ingresso para o show, ingresso de cinema, ingresso do jogo.
bilhete is more often:
- a note or short written message (bilhete para o professor),
- a transport ticket (bus/train/metro) in some regions.
ticket is understood (it’s an English loanword) but sounds informal/anglicized; not as standard as ingresso in this context.

So um ingresso extra para o show is the most natural way to say “an extra ticket for the show.”

What’s the difference between o show das oito horas and o show às oito horas?

They are not the same structure:

o show das oito horas
Literally “the show of the eight o’clock.”
It names/identifies the show: the 8 p.m. show (as opposed to the 6 p.m. show, etc.).
o show às oito horas
Literally “the show at eight o’clock.”
It tells you the time when the show happens.

In your sentence:

…um ingresso extra para o show das oito horas…
= …an extra ticket for the 8 p.m. show…

If you wanted to focus on the time of the event instead of naming which show, you might say:

Tenho ingresso para o show às oito horas. – I have a ticket for the show at 8 p.m.

But das oito horas here is working like a label: “the 8 o’clock show.”

Can I drop horas and just say o show das oito?

Yes. It’s very natural in speech:

o show das oito – the 8 o’clock show
o show das seis – the 6 o’clock show

People often omit horas when the meaning is clear:

Vou no show das oito. – I’m going to the 8 o’clock show.

In more formal or careful writing, das oito horas is also fine, but das oito is completely normal and frequent.

Why is it eu ligarei instead of eu vou ligar? Which is more common?

Both:

eu ligarei
eu vou ligar

can translate as “I will call.”

In Brazilian Portuguese:

eu vou ligar (ir + infinitive) is much more common in everyday speech.
eu ligarei (simple future) is:
- grammatically correct,
- more formal / written,
- still heard, but less frequent in casual conversation.

So a more colloquial version of the sentence would be:

Se sobrar um ingresso extra…, eu vou ligar para você.

The original with ligarei sounds a bit more formal or bookish, but it’s correct.

Can I put the if-clause second, like in English: Eu ligarei para você se sobrar um ingresso extra?

Yes, you can. Both orders are correct:

Se sobrar um ingresso extra…, eu ligarei para você.
Eu ligarei para você se sobrar um ingresso extra.

The main differences:

Comma:
- If the se-clause comes first, you normally use a comma:
  Se sobrar um ingresso extra, eu ligarei para você.
- If it comes second, usually no comma:
  Eu ligarei para você se sobrar um ingresso extra.
Emphasis:
- Starting with Se sobrar… emphasizes the condition.
- Starting with Eu ligarei… emphasizes the action (the calling).

Both are natural.

Why is it ligar para você and not just ligar você?

With the meaning “to call someone (on the phone)”, Brazilian Portuguese uses:

ligar para alguém

Examples:

Vou ligar para você. – I’m going to call you.
Ele ligou para a mãe dele. – He called his mother.
Você já ligou para o médico? – Have you called the doctor yet?

Without the preposition:

ligar alguém
is unusual and usually means something else (e.g., ligar alguém a algo = “to connect someone to something”).

So for telephone calls, remember the pattern: ligar para + person.

Can I say vou te ligar instead of vou ligar para você?

Yes. Both are natural, but with different structure:

Vou ligar para você.
– uses the preposition para
- stressed pronoun você.
Vou te ligar.
– uses the clitic pronoun te (object pronoun) before the verb.

Notes:

In Brazilian Portuguese, sentence-initial or mid-sentence forms like vou te ligar or vou ligar pra você are very common and colloquial.
Te is more typical if you normally address the person as tu. But even many você-regions use te in speech.
A very colloquial, fully contracted version would be:
Se sobrar um ingresso extra, eu vou te ligar.
or
Se sobrar um ingresso extra, eu te ligo. (present with future meaning, also common in speech)

The original eu ligarei para você is more neutral/formal.

Why do we say para o show and not just para show?

In Portuguese, most singular countable nouns take an article (o, a, um, uma, etc.), especially when they refer to a specific thing.

para o show – for the show (a specific show)
para um show – for a show (some show, not specified)

Saying para show (without article) sounds incomplete or foreign-influenced. English often drops the article (“for show,” “for lunch”), but Portuguese usually doesn’t in this type of phrase.

So:

um ingresso extra para o show das oito horas
= an extra ticket for the 8 p.m. show (a particular show).

What is the difference between para o and pro in para o show?

para o is the full, standard written form:
para o show
pro is the contracted, informal form of para o in Brazilian Portuguese:
pro show

You’ll often hear and see:

Vou pro show das oito. – I’m going to the 8 o’clock show.
Comprei ingresso pro jogo. – I bought a ticket for the game.

In formal writing, it’s safer to use para o.
In speech, messages between friends, social media, pro is very common and natural.

Can I drop the subject pronoun and just say ligarei para você?

Yes. Portuguese often drops subject pronouns because the verb form already shows the person:

Ligarei para você. – I will call you.
Vou ligar para você. – I’m going to call you.

Both indicate the first person singular (eu) even without saying eu.

Including eu can:

add emphasis (Eu ligarei para você, not someone else), or
simply sound more explicit, which many Brazilians prefer in spontaneous speech.

So you might hear both:

Se sobrar um ingresso extra, ligarei para você. (more formal)
Se sobrar um ingresso extra, eu vou ligar para você. (more conversational)

Why is it um ingresso extra and not something like uma ingresso extra? And does extra change form?

ingresso is a masculine noun in Portuguese:
- o ingresso, um ingresso, meu ingresso, etc.

So you must use the masculine article:

um ingresso extra (correct)
uma ingresso extra (incorrect)

As for extra:

extra is an adjective that is invariable in gender and number in this usage.
It stays extra for masculine/feminine/singular/plural:
- um ingresso extra – one extra ticket
- dois ingressos extra – two extra tickets
- uma cadeira extra – one extra chair
- três cadeiras extra – three extra chairs

So um ingresso extra is fully correct and natural.