Surviving in the wilderness requires you to keep pushing forward, no matter what obstacles arise. When you want to express that a result happens regardless of which of two possibilities occurs, you use an alternative concessive clause.
Expressing "whether... or...": quer... quer...
In Portuguese, to say "whether [this] or [that]", we use the paired structure quer... quer....
Because these clauses present hypothetical alternatives or situations where the exact condition doesn't change the main action, the verbs immediately following each quer must always be conjugated in the present subjunctive (presente do conjuntivo).
| We must resist the panic, whether it is day or night. | Temos de resistir ao pânico, quer seja dia, quer seja noite. |
You can use this structure to contrast two different states, objects, or actions. Just remember to conjugate both verbs in the subjunctive.
| Whether the canteen is full or empty, you are dehydrated. | Quer o cantil esteja cheio, quer esteja vazio, estás desidratado. |
| Whether you run or crawl, you have to resist. | Quer corras, quer rastejes, tens de resistir. |
Positive and negative alternatives
You can also use quer... quer... to say "whether [a condition is true] or not". To do this, simply repeat the same verb in the second clause, but place the word não immediately before it.
| Whether he is dehydrated or not, he resists. | Quer esteja desidratado, quer não esteja, ele resiste. |