Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect Subjunctive
Many of the most common verbs in Portuguese are highly irregular in the imperfect subjunctive (pretérito imperfeito do conjuntivo). We use these forms for the exact same reasons as regular verbs—hypotheticals, past wishes, and imaginary conditions—which makes them perfect for talking about myths, legends, and fairy tales.
The Rule for Finding the Stem
While irregular verbs have completely changed stems, there is a reliable trick to finding them.
Take the eles/elas form of the simple past (pretérito perfeito do indicativo), drop the -ram ending, and add the standard imperfect subjunctive endings: -sse, -sses, -sse, -ssemos, -ssem.
- fazer (to do/make) ➔ eles fizeram ➔ drop -ram ➔ fize- ➔ fizesse
- ter (to have) ➔ eles tiveram ➔ drop -ram ➔ tive- ➔ tivesse
- poder (to be able to) ➔ eles puderam ➔ drop -ram ➔ pude- ➔ pudesse
| Pronoun | ser / ir (foram) | ter (tiveram) | fazer (fizeram) |
|---|
| eu | fosse | tivesse | fizesse |
| tu | fosses | tivesses | fizesses |
| ele/ela/você | fosse | tivesse | fizesse |
| nós | fôssemos | tivéssemos | fizéssemos |
| eles/elas/vocês | fossem | tivessem | fizessem |
Note: Just like with regular verbs, the nós form requires a written accent on the vowel right before the ending (fôssemos, tivéssemos, etc.).
Ser and Ir
As in many past tenses, the verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) share the exact same forms. The context of the sentence will always tell you which verb is being used.
Common Irregulars: Ter, Vir, Ver, and Poder
Using the rule above, we get the stems tive- for ter (to have), vie- for vir (to come), vi- for ver (to see), and pude- for poder (to be able to).
These are frequently used after conditional triggers like se (if) or purpose triggers like para que (so that).
More Irregular Stems: Dizer, Saber, Dar, and Pôr
A few more extremely common verbs follow the same pattern to get their stems: disse- for dizer (to say), soube- for saber (to know), de- for dar (to give), and puse- for pôr (to put).