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Portuguese (Portugal)

### Political Campaigns and Conditional Mesoclisis

Just as with the future tense, European Portuguese uses **mesoclisis** (mid-verb pronoun placement) with the **conditional tense**. You will frequently hear this elegant structure in formal settings, such as election campaigns where politicians discuss hypothetical policies and what they *would* do if elected.

To form it, split the conditional verb into its infinitive and its conditional ending, then place the pronoun between two hyphens:

**Infinitive** + **-pronoun-** + **conditional ending**

For example, *apoiaria* (would support) becomes **apoiar-te-ia** (would support you). 

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### Working with Different Pronouns

Mesoclisis works seamlessly with all object pronouns, including **me**, **te**, **nos**, **lhe** (to him/her/you formal), and **lhes** (to them/you all formal). Just plug the target pronoun into the middle of the verb.

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### Plural Conditional Endings

Be careful when translating hypothetical statements about "we" or "they". The verb still splits exactly at the end of the infinitive, meaning the longer plural endings (**-íamos** for *nós* and **-iam** for *eles/elas*) are tacked entirely onto the end, after the pronoun.

Notice how the accent mark on **-íamos** remains exactly as it appears in the standard conditional tense:

- *mostraríamos* (we would show) → **mostrar** + **lhe** + **íamos** → **mostrar-lhe-íamos**
- *entregariam* (they would hand over) → **entregar** + **nos** + **iam** → **entregar-nos-iam**

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Conditional mesoclisis (apoiar-te-ia)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Question	Answer
the voter	o eleitor
the election	a eleição
Every voter would support you in the election.	Cada eleitor apoiar-te-ia na eleição.
to fund	financiar
the education	a educação
The government would fund education for us.	O governo financiar-nos-ia a educação.
the term	o mandato
to combat	combater
the corruption	a corrupção
In this term, the candidate would promise us to combat corruption.	Neste mandato, o candidato prometer-nos-ia combater a corrupção.
the infrastructure	a infraestrutura
the municipality	o município
We would show him the municipality's infrastructure.	Nós mostrar-lhe-íamos a infraestrutura do município.
the economy	a economia
Despite the crisis, the minister would explain the economy to him before the election.	Apesar da crise, o ministro explicar-lhe-ia a economia antes da eleição.
The president would guarantee them the right to combat corruption.	O presidente garantir-lhes-ia o direito de combater a corrupção.
Any voter would ask him how to fund education.	Qualquer eleitor perguntar-lhe-ia como financiar a educação.
They would hand the municipality over to us during the term.	Eles entregar-nos-iam o município durante o mandato.
Would you promise me a stronger economy, madam?	A senhora prometer-me-ia uma economia mais forte?
We would help you fix the municipality's infrastructure.	Nós ajudar-te-íamos a consertar a infraestrutura do município.
They would swear to us to combat corruption in the city.	Eles jurar-nos-iam combater a corrupção na cidade.
I would support you in the campaign, but I have been sick for a month.	Eu apoiar-te-ia na campanha, mas estou doente há um mês.