Word
Se o elevador não funcionar, vou subir as escadas.
Meaning
If the elevator does not work, I will go up the stairs.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of Se o elevador não funcionar, vou subir as escadas.
não
not
ir
to go (future auxiliary)
se
if
o elevador
the elevator
Questions & Answers about Se o elevador não funcionar, vou subir as escadas.
Why is it funcionar and not funciona?
Because after se meaning if, Portuguese often uses the future subjunctive when talking about a possible future situation.
So:
- Se o elevador não funcionar... = If the elevator doesn’t work / if the elevator happens not to work...
This is different from English, where we usually use the present form after if.
Compare:
- Se ele vem is generally not correct for this kind of future condition.
- Se ele vier = If he comes
- Se o elevador não funcionar = If the elevator doesn’t work
For regular -ar verbs, the future subjunctive often looks the same as the infinitive, which is why you see funcionar.
What exactly is vou subir? Why not just one future verb?
Vou subir is the very common ir + infinitive future, literally I am going to go up, but in natural English it usually just means I’ll go up.
So:
- vou subir = I’m going to go up / I’ll go up
Portuguese also has a simple future:
- subirei = I will go up
Both are correct, but in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, vou subir is usually more natural and more common in speech.
Why is there no eu before vou?