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Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.

Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
If the new government keeps half of the promises, I will already be satisfied.
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Questions & Answers about Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.

Is cumprir here present tense or future subjunctive, and why is that form used after se?

In Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, cumprir is in the future subjunctive.

  • For regular -ir verbs, the infinitive and the future subjunctive look the same: cumprir.
  • You can tell it’s future subjunctive because:
    • It comes after se (if), and
    • It refers to a future / hypothetical situation, not a habitual present one.

In European Portuguese, when you talk about a real future condition with se, you normally use:

  • Future subjunctive in the if-clause
  • Present or future in the main clause

So:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
    ➜ If the new government keeps (in the future) half the promises, I’ll be satisfied.

Compare with a present-time, habitual condition, which would take the present indicative:

  • Se o novo governo cumpre metade das promessas, fico satisfeito.
    (Sounds more like: Whenever the new government keeps half the promises, I’m satisfied. – odd in this context.)
How would I say “If the new government kept half the promises, I would be satisfied” (more hypothetical, less realistic)?

For a more hypothetical or unlikely situation (like English “If … kept / would be”), you use:

  • Imperfect subjunctive in the if-clause
  • Conditional in the main clause

So you'd say:

  • Se o novo governo cumprisse metade das promessas, já ficaria satisfeito.
    • cumprisse = imperfect subjunctive of cumprir
    • ficaria = conditional of ficar

Nuance:

  • cumprir / fico ➜ real, plausible future: If they actually do it, I’ll be satisfied
  • cumprisse / ficaria ➜ more hypothetical, doubtful: If they were to do it (which I don’t really expect), I would be satisfied
What exactly is já doing here? Is it literally “already”?

Literally, já means “already”, but in this sentence it has a slightly different, idiomatic nuance.

In já fico satisfeito, já conveys ideas like:

  • “even”: Even that would be enough for me
  • “as far as I’m concerned, that’s already enough”*
  • A sense of lowered expectations or minimum requirement

So the nuance is:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
    ➜ If the new government keeps even half the promises, that’s already enough for me.

You could remove já:

  • … fico satisfeito.
    Still correct, but weaker, more neutral. Já adds: I’m not asking for much; even that would do.
Why is it fico satisfeito and not estou satisfeito?

Both ficar and estar can relate to states, but:

  • ficar often means “to become / to end up / to be (as a result of something)”
  • estar is more like “to be (in a state, right now)”

In a conditional like this, ficar is very natural because we’re talking about the resulting reaction or state if the condition happens:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
    ➜ I (will) end up satisfied / I’ll be satisfied as a result.

If you said:

  • … já estou satisfeito.
    This sounds more like I am already satisfied (now), which doesn’t match the future condition.

You could say:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, vou ficar satisfeito.
    (more explicitly future: I’m going to be satisfied.)

But the plain present fico with a future meaning is very common and natural here.

Why is it satisfeito and not satisfeita? How does agreement work here?

Satisfeito / satisfeita is an adjective and must agree with the subject in gender and number.

  • The subject of fico is eu (I), which is omitted because it’s clear from the verb ending.
  • If the speaker is a man, he says:
    • (Eu) fico satisfeito.
  • If the speaker is a woman, she says:
    • (Eu) fico satisfeita.

So:

  • A male speaker: Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
  • A female speaker: Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeita.

The sentence you gave assumes a male speaker.

Why is it metade das promessas and not metade de as promessas or something else?

Metade (half) usually appears as:

  • metade de + [something]

When [something] has a definite article (like as promessas – the promises), de + as contracts to:

  • das

So:

  • metade de as promessas → metade das promessas

Structure:

  • metade das promessas = half of the promises
  • metade da comida = half of the food
  • metade do dinheiro = half of the money

You can also say:

  • metade das promessas do governo = half of the government’s promises
  • metade das minhas promessas = half of my promises

Note that metade itself is singular (it’s one half), but what follows (das promessas) can be plural.

Why is it o novo governo with the article o? Could we just say Se novo governo cumprir…?

In Portuguese, you almost always need a definite article with nouns like governo when you mean “the government” in a specific sense.

  • o governo = the (specific) government
  • um governo = a (not specific) government

So:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas…
    = If the new government keeps… (the specific, upcoming one everyone knows about)

Without the article:

  • Se novo governo cumprir…
    Sounds wrong / ungrammatical in standard Portuguese.

Portuguese generally uses definite articles more often than English, including with institutions and abstract nouns.

Why is there a comma after the se-clause?

The comma marks the separation between:

  • The conditional clause: Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas
  • The main clause: já fico satisfeito.

In Portuguese writing:

  • If the if-clause (oração condicional) comes first, you usually write a comma before the main clause.
  • If the if-clause comes after the main clause, you usually don’t use a comma.

So both are correct:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
  • Já fico satisfeito se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas. (no comma)
Why is the main clause in the present (fico) instead of a future tense (ficarei)?

In European Portuguese, it’s very common to use the present indicative to talk about a future result when the future is clear from context, especially after a future condition:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.
    ➜ understood as future: … I’ll be satisfied.

You could also say:

  • … já ficarei satisfeito.
    (more formally explicit future: I will be satisfied.)

Nuance:

  • fico is a bit more colloquial / natural in everyday speech.
  • ficarei sounds a bit more formal or emphatic, but it’s not wrong.
Could I move já somewhere else in the sentence? Does the position change the meaning?

In this sentence, the canonical and most natural position is:

  • … já fico satisfeito.

You could say:

  • … fico já satisfeito.

This is still correct, but it sounds more marked or slightly old-fashioned / emphatic in many contexts.

The meaning doesn’t change much; já still expresses:

  • “already / even / that’s enough for me”

However:

  • já fico satisfeito is what you should normally use.
  • Other positions (like fico satisfeito já) are either unnatural here or change focus in subtle ways that natives avoid in this exact structure.

So, for learning purposes, keep:

  • Se o novo governo cumprir metade das promessas, já fico satisfeito.