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Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.

Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
If you are sneezing, you can use a tissue.

Breakdown of Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.

um
a
estar
to be
poder
to be able to
se
if
usar
to use
espirrar
to sneeze
o lenço de papel
the tissue
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Questions & Answers about Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.

What is estiveres? Why not just estás?

Estiveres is the future subjunctive of estar, used after se to talk about a possible future situation.

  • Se estiveres a espirrar...
    = If you are (at that moment) sneezing... (in the future / in a hypothetical situation)

Using estás (Se estás a espirrar...) is common in informal speech, but it sounds less careful/standard. In European Portuguese, the future subjunctive is the normal choice in conditional sentences with se when you’re talking about the future or about a hypothetical condition.

So:

  • Correct / standard: Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
  • More colloquial: Se estás a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
What exactly is the future subjunctive, and when is it used?

The future subjunctive in Portuguese talks about uncertain or possible future events, especially in clauses introduced by:

  • se (if)
  • quando (when)
  • enquanto (while)
  • logo que / assim que (as soon as)
  • etc.

For estar, the future subjunctive is:

  • eu estiver
  • tu estiveres
  • ele/ela/você estiver
  • nós estivermos
  • vocês/eles/elas estiverem

Examples:

  • Se estiveres doente, fica em casa.
    If you are ill, stay at home.

  • Quando estiverem prontos, podemos começar.
    When you (plural) are ready, we can start.

In your sentence, Se estiveres a espirrar is exactly this pattern: If you are (at that moment) sneezing… in a possible future situation.

Why is it estar a espirrar and not estar espirrando or something like that?

In European Portuguese, the most natural way to express the present continuous/progressive is:

estar a + infinitive

So:

  • estou a comer = I am eating
  • estás a ler = you are reading
  • estiveres a espirrar = if you are sneezing

In Brazilian Portuguese, people normally say:

estar + gerúndio (the -ndo form)

  • estou comendo
  • está lendo
  • estiver espirrando

Because your sentence is from Portugal, estar a espirrar is the standard and expected form.

What is the function of the little a in a espirrar?

The a in a espirrar is a preposition, not an article. It is part of the “estar a + infinitive” construction.

  • estar a espirrar = “to be sneezing”
  • estar a trabalhar = “to be working”
  • estar a estudar = “to be studying”

It does not mean “to sneeze” in general; it indicates that the action is in progress at that moment.

Without estar, the verb is just in its infinitive:

  • espirrar = to sneeze
Could I say Se espirrares instead of Se estiveres a espirrar? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say Se espirrares, and it’s grammatically correct. Both forms use the future subjunctive:

  • Se espirrares, podes usar um lenço de papel.
  • Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.

Nuance:

  • Se espirrares = If you sneeze (one or more times) → focuses on the event of sneezing.
  • Se estiveres a espirrar = If you are sneezing (at that time) → focuses on the ongoing action / state of sneezing.

In most everyday contexts, they’re very close in meaning and both sound natural.

Why is it podes usar and not pode usar?

Podes is the 2nd person singular form (for tu):

  • tu podes = you can / you may
  • você pode = you can / you may (formal / semi-formal, 3rd person verb form)

In Portugal:

  • With tu → podes usar um lenço de papel.
  • With você → pode usar um lenço de papel.

Your sentence is clearly addressing someone with tu (informal, singular), so podes is the correct form.

If you were speaking to more than one person informally:

  • vocês podem usar um lenço de papel.
Why is the subject pronoun tu not written? How do I know it’s “you”?

Portuguese is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

  • podes can only be tu (you, singular, informal).
  • pode can be ele/ela/você (he/she/you formal).
  • podem can be eles/elas/vocês (they / you plural).

So from podes usar, a native speaker immediately understands tu is implied:

  • (Tu) podes usar um lenço de papel.
Why is it um lenço de papel and not just lenço de papel?

Um is the indefinite article (“a / one”).

  • um lenço de papel = a tissue / a paper handkerchief
    → any one tissue, not a specific one.

If you drop the article:

  • lenço de papel can sound like you’re talking more generally about the material/type (e.g. in a list: vidro, plástico, lenço de papel…), or it sounds incomplete as an object of usar in this sort of everyday sentence.

You could also say:

  • Podes usar lenços de papel. = You can use tissues. (general, plural)

But with a singular object, um is needed: um lenço de papel.

What exactly does lenço de papel mean? Is it like “tissue” in English?

Yes. Lenço de papel literally means “paper handkerchief”, and it corresponds to what English usually calls a (paper) tissue or a Kleenex.

Typical distinctions:

  • lenço de papel = paper tissue (for the nose, sneezing, etc.)
  • lenço (without de papel) = often suggests a cloth handkerchief or a square of fabric
  • guardanapo (de papel) = (paper) napkin (for eating)
  • toalhita / toalhete = wet wipe / moist towelette

In this sentence, lenço de papel is exactly what you’d use when sneezing.

Could the sentence also be Se estiveres a espirrar, usa um lenço de papel? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are correct:

  1. Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
    → If you are sneezing, you can use a tissue.
    podes = gives permission or indicates possibility.

  2. Se estiveres a espirrar, usa um lenço de papel.
    → If you are sneezing, use a tissue.
    usa = imperative, a direct instruction or order.

So:

  • podes usar is softer: “you may / you can use…”
  • usa is more like: “use a tissue!”
Can I put the se clause at the end instead? For example: Podes usar um lenço de papel se estiveres a espirrar?

Yes, that’s perfectly natural:

  • Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
  • Podes usar um lenço de papel, se estiveres a espirrar.

Both orders are correct. Changing the order doesn’t change the meaning; it only shifts the emphasis slightly:

  • At the beginning, Se estiveres a espirrar sounds a bit more conditional/emphasized.
  • At the end, it feels more like an afterthought: “you can use a tissue, if you’re sneezing.”
What’s the difference between se and quando here? Could I say Quando estiveres a espirrar?

You can say it, but there’s a change in meaning:

  • Se estiveres a espirrar = If you are sneezing → it might happen, it’s conditional.
  • Quando estiveres a espirrar = When you are sneezing → assumes it will happen at some point.

So:

  • Se estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
    = Maybe you’ll be sneezing; in that case, you can use a tissue.

  • Quando estiveres a espirrar, podes usar um lenço de papel.
    = You will be sneezing at some point; at that moment, you can use a tissue.

How do I pronounce lenço and what does the ç do?
  • ç (c cedilha) is pronounced like /s/ before a, o, u.
  • lenço is roughly: LEN-soo (with a nasal EN).

Details:

  • len-: the e is nasalized because of -nç- (similar to the en in French bien, but shorter).
  • -ço: the ç is like s, and o here is like an unstressed oo sound.

So lenço sounds close to “LEN-soo”, with a nasal LEN and a soft s in the middle.