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Portuguese (Portugal)

Imagine a world where a rogue artificial intelligence has taken over. When analyzing what went wrong, you will often need to talk about how things *would be* right now if we *had done* things differently in the past. To bridge this gap between past mistakes and present consequences, Portuguese uses a mixed conditional sentence.

### The Past Condition: Se + Mais-Que-Perfeito do Conjuntivo

To describe an unreal or hypothetical situation in the past, start your "if" clause with **se** (if) followed by the Past Perfect Subjunctive (*Mais-Que-Perfeito do Conjuntivo*). 

You form this compound tense by using the Imperfect Subjunctive of the auxiliary verb **ter** (*tivesse, tivesses, tivesse, tivéssemos, tivessem*) plus the past participle of your main verb (such as *programado* or *apagado*).

### The Present Consequence: Condicional Simples or Pretérito Imperfeito

To describe the present outcome of that hypothetical past action, the result clause uses the Conditional (*Condicional Simples*) or the Imperfect (*Pretérito Imperfeito*). 

The Conditional is formed by taking the full infinitive of the verb and adding its specific endings: **-ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -iam** (e.g., *seria*, *protegeria*).

Let's see how these two halves pair together to form a mixed conditional. Notice how the past "if" clause shapes the present reality:

{{item:1038514}}

{{item:1038518}}

### Changing the Order

Just like in English, you can reverse the order of the clauses without changing the meaning. When the result clause comes first, the word **se** simply moves to the middle of the sentence to introduce the past condition.

{{item:1038525}}

{{item:1038529}}

Mixed conditionals (se tivesse... faria)

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
to program	programar
the robot	o robô
obedient	obediente
If we had programmed the robot better, it would be more obedient today.	Se tivéssemos programado melhor o robô, ele seria mais obediente hoje.
the creator	o criador
the artificial intelligence	a inteligência artificial
hostile	hostil
If the creator had deleted the code, the artificial intelligence would not be increasingly hostile now.	Se o criador tivesse apagado o código, a inteligência artificial não seria cada vez mais hostil agora.
the directive	a diretiva
the consciousness	a consciência
If they had changed the directive, the machine would not have consciousness.	Se eles tivessem mudado a diretiva, a máquina não teria consciência.
the rebellion	a rebelião
Despite the rebellion, if we had turned off the power, the robot would not be so hostile.	Apesar da rebelião, se tivéssemos desligado a energia, o robô não seria tão hostil.
the humanity	a humanidade
Humanity would be calm if it had programmed a more obedient directive.	A humanidade estaria tranquila se tivesse programado uma diretiva mais obediente.
If the scientist had not given it consciousness, the artificial intelligence would be less and less dangerous.	Se o cientista não lhe tivesse dado consciência, a inteligência artificial seria cada vez menos perigosa.
If the rebellion had failed, the creator would control the machines now.	Se a rebelião tivesse falhado, o criador controlaria as máquinas agora.
Despite being a hostile robot, it would be here if the artificial intelligence had helped it.	Apesar de ser um robô hostil, ele estaria aqui se a inteligência artificial o tivesse ajudado.
If the directive had not failed, the conscious machine would protect humanity.	Se a diretiva não tivesse falhado, a máquina consciente protegeria a humanidade.
If we had written the code well, the obedient machine would follow the directive more and more.	Se tivéssemos escrito bem o código, a máquina obediente seguiria a diretiva cada vez mais.

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