Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema. - If the ticket is valid, you can enter the cinema.

Portuguese uses the future subjunctive after se (if/when) to talk about a possible future situation:
- Se o bilhete for válido… = If the ticket is (turns out to be) valid…
é is present indicative and would sound wrong here for a future condition.

So the pattern is:

Se + future subjunctive, main clause (often in the present or future)
- Se chover, fico em casa. – If it rains, I stay at home.
- Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.

What exactly is for grammatically, and how is it formed?

For is the 3rd person singular future subjunctive of ser.

For ser, the future subjunctive is:

eu – (no separate form; same as 3rd person, usually omitted)
tu – fores
ele / ela / você – for
nós – formos
vós – fordes (rare in modern speech)
eles / elas / vocês – forem

You use these after conjunctions like se, quando, enquanto, logo que, etc., when referring to the future:

Se ele for ao cinema, eu vou também. – If he goes to the cinema, I’ll go too.
Quando fores a Lisboa, visita Belém. – When you go to Lisbon, visit Belém.

In English we say “If the ticket is valid…”, not “if the ticket will be valid”. Why does Portuguese use a future form here?

Portuguese grammar treats future conditions differently:

In English:
- If the ticket is valid, you can go in. – present in the if-clause, future meaning from context.
In Portuguese:
- Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema. – future subjunctive in the se-clause.

So, whenever you’re talking about a future condition with se, Portuguese usually wants:

se + future subjunctive
- Se tiveres tempo, liga-me. – If you have time, call me.
- Se o exame for difícil, estudas mais. – If the exam is difficult, you’ll study more.

It’s a very regular pattern; you should almost automatically think:
“If + future event” → se + future subjunctive in Portuguese.

Could I say Se o bilhete é válido, podes entrar no cinema?

No, that is not idiomatic for this meaning.

Se o bilhete é válido… sounds like you’re talking about a general truth or something already known, not a future condition.
For the idea “if (it turns out that) the ticket is valid (later)”, use:
- Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.

So for real, future conditions, keep se + future subjunctive, not se + é.

Could I use estar instead of ser, like Se o bilhete estiver válido?

You can say Se o bilhete estiver válido, and it’s grammatically correct, but there’s a nuance:

Se o bilhete for válido (ser):
- Focuses on validity as a characteristic / status (is it a valid ticket or not?).
Se o bilhete estiver válido (estar):
- Sounds more like “if it is still valid / if it happens to be valid at that time”, slightly more temporary.

In practice, for tickets, documents, etc., ser válido is more common and neutral.
Use ser for more stable qualities, estar for temporary states.

What does podes correspond to in English, and why not pode?

Podes is the 2nd person singular form of poder (can/may) for tu:

tu podes – you (informal, singular) can / may
ele / ela / você pode – he / she / you (polite) can / may

So:

podes entrar ≈ “you can / may go in” (informal, talking to one person you’re on tu terms with)
If you wanted to be more formal or polite (Portugal), you would say:
- Se o bilhete for válido, pode entrar no cinema. – addressing você or o senhor / a senhora.

The sentence you have is addressed to someone you tutear (use tu with).

Why isn’t the subject tu written in podes entrar?

In Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often dropped because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

podes can only be tu (in standard European Portuguese), so tu is optional:
- Tu podes entrar no cinema.
- Podes entrar no cinema.

Both are correct; the version without the pronoun is actually more natural in many contexts.
Pronouns like tu, ele, nós are usually only added for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Does podes here mean “can” (ability) or “may” (permission)?

In Portuguese, poder covers both ability and permission.

In this sentence:

Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.
→ It clearly means permission: you are allowed to go into the cinema.

Context decides whether poder is “can” or “may” in English:

Posso falar inglês. – I can / know how to speak English. (ability)
Posso entrar? – May I / Can I come in? (permission)

What is bilhete and why is it o bilhete, not a bilhete?

Bilhete means ticket and it is a masculine noun in Portuguese:

o bilhete – the ticket
um bilhete – a ticket
os bilhetes – the tickets

That’s why you have:

masculine article o
and the adjective válido also in masculine form to agree with it:
- o bilhete válido – the valid ticket
- a carta válida – the valid letter (feminine noun → adjective becomes válida)

Noun gender (masculine/feminine) in Portuguese is mostly something you memorize with each noun.

Why is it no cinema and not just em cinema or ao cinema?

No is the contraction of em + o:

em + o cinema → no cinema = in the cinema / inside the cinema

So:

entrar no cinema – to go into the cinema (enter the building)
ir ao cinema – to go to the cinema / to the movies (as an activity)

The prepositions differ:

entrar em (to enter in/into) → entrar no cinema
ir a (to go to) → ir ao cinema (a + o = ao)

Saying entrar em cinema without the article would sound wrong here; you normally need the article with cinema in this concrete sense.

Is the word order fixed as Se X, Y, or can I change it?

You can switch the order, just like in English:

Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.
Podes entrar no cinema se o bilhete for válido.

Both are correct and mean the same.

Comma rule:

If the se-clause comes first:
- Use a comma: Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar…
If it comes second:
- Usually no comma: Podes entrar… se o bilhete for válido.

Could I say poderás entrar instead of podes entrar?

You can, but it changes the tone a bit:

Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.
- Very natural, everyday Portuguese.
- Present tense with a future meaning from context.
Se o bilhete for válido, poderás entrar no cinema.
- More formal / emphatic / “written” style.
- Sounds a bit like: “you will be able to enter the cinema.”

In normal spoken European Portuguese, podes is more common and natural than poderás in this kind of sentence.

What is the function of se here? Is it “if” or “whether”?

Here, se is clearly “if” in a conditional sentence:

Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.
→ If the ticket is valid, you can go into the cinema.

Se can also mean “whether” in other contexts (usually in indirect questions):

Não sei se o bilhete é válido. – I don’t know whether the ticket is valid.

So:

Conditional “if” → Se for…
Indirect “whether” → Não sei se…

Can I use a different verb than entrar here, like ir?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

entrar no cinema – to enter the cinema, go inside the building.
ir ao cinema – to go to the cinema (as an outing, to watch a film).

So:

Se o bilhete for válido, podes entrar no cinema.
→ If the ticket is valid, you can go inside the cinema.
Se o bilhete for válido, podes ir ao cinema.
→ If the ticket is valid, you can go to the cinema (as an activity).

Both are correct; choose based on what you want to say.