Breakdown of Se a melancia estiver madura, eu vou levar um pedaço para o almoço de domingo.
eu
I
estar
to be
um
a
ir
to go (future auxiliary)
Questions & Answers about Se a melancia estiver madura, eu vou levar um pedaço para o almoço de domingo.
Why is it estiver and not está?
Because after se when you are talking about a possible future situation, Portuguese usually uses the future subjunctive.
- Se a melancia estiver madura... = If the watermelon is ripe... / If the watermelon turns out to be ripe...
- Se a melancia está madura... sounds wrong in this context.
A useful pattern is:
- Se + future subjunctive, main clause in the future / present / imperative
Examples:
- Se chover, eu não vou. = If it rains, I’m not going.
- Se ele chegar cedo, nós saímos. = If he arrives early, we leave.
So estiver is the future subjunctive form of estar.
How do I know that estiver is from estar?
Estiver is one of the subjunctive forms of estar. It may look unfamiliar because irregular verbs often change shape in the subjunctive.
For estar, the future subjunctive forms are:
In this sentence:
- Se a melancia estiver madura...
the subject is a melancia, which is third person singular, so estiver is the correct form.