Breakdown of Se o despertador falhar, faço uma sesta mais curta depois do almoço.
Questions & Answers about Se o despertador falhar, faço uma sesta mais curta depois do almoço.
Because Portuguese uses the future subjunctive after se to talk about a real, possible future condition. Here, falhar is the 3rd person singular of the future subjunctive of falhar (it happens to look like the infinitive).
- Present subjunctive: eu falhe, tu falhes, ele/ela falhe
- Future subjunctive: eu falhar, tu falhares, ele/ela falhar
- Present indicative: ele/ela falha
So Se o despertador falhar… = If the alarm fails (at some future point)… Falhe would be used after triggers like É possível que…, or to express wish/uncertainty not tied to a specific future condition. Falha would state a plain present fact: If the alarm fails (as it usually does)… which is not the intended meaning here.
Yes, but the nuance changes:
- faço = present indicative with a habitual or rule-like meaning: “When/If that happens, I (normally) do X.”
- farei = simple future, more like a specific future outcome: “If it fails (that time), I will make/take a shorter nap.”
- vou fazer = periphrastic future, often more immediate or planned: “If it fails, I’m going to take a shorter nap.”
All three are grammatical; choose based on whether you mean a general habit (faço) or a particular future occasion (farei/vou fazer).
Use the imperfect subjunctive in the if-clause and the conditional in the main clause:
- Se o despertador falhasse, faria uma sesta mais curta depois do almoço. Meaning: “If the alarm were to fail, I would take a shorter nap after lunch.”
- quando = when/whenever, implying you expect it to happen at some point: Quando o despertador falhar, faço…
- se = if, expressing a possibility: Se o despertador falhar, faço…
Use quando only if you’re treating the alarm’s failure as expected or inevitable.
Yes. Common collocations in European Portuguese include:
- fazer uma/a sesta
- dormir a sesta
- tirar uma sesta (heard, but less idiomatic than the two above)
In Brazil, you’d more often hear tirar um cochilo or tirar uma soneca.
Yes, when the subordinate clause comes first, you normally put a comma: Se o despertador falhar, faço… If the main clause comes first, you usually don’t need a comma: Faço uma sesta mais curta depois do almoço se o despertador falhar.
Do is the contraction of de + o. So:
- depois de o almoço → depois do almoço This is standard with articles. You might also see:
- depois de almoçar (after having lunch; uses a verb)
- após o almoço (more formal)
- a seguir ao almoço (European Portuguese, very natural)
Falhar is fine and natural in Portugal. Alternatives:
- Se o despertador não tocar… (if the alarm doesn’t ring)
- Se o alarme falhar… (if the alarm fails)
- Se o despertador avariar… (if it breaks down; implies a defect, not just missing the time) In Brazil you may also hear pifar (slangy) for devices failing.
Yes. Verb–subject inversion in subordinate clauses is possible in European Portuguese: Se falhar o despertador, faço… Both orders are fine; the original order (subject before verb) is the most straightforward for learners.
Both work, but they feel different:
- fazer a sesta often refers to “the (habitual) nap,” a routine daily siesta.
- fazer uma sesta presents it as “a nap” on a given occasion (or a type/amount), which matches the idea of adjusting its length.
- despertador: stress on the last syllable dor; the single r between vowels is a tapped r in most of Portugal.
- falhar: lh is a palatal sound like the “lli” in million; final r is a strong uvular/“guttural” sound in much of Portugal.
- faço: ç is an s sound; the a is open (FA-so).
- sesta: initial s is unvoiced (like English s).
- depois: the oi is like English “oy.”
- almoço: ç is s; stress falls on the second syllable (al-MO-so).