Probable Future Events
When shopping online, you often talk about tracking, shipping, and refunds—things that haven't happened yet. To describe probable future events or conditions, Portuguese uses the Future Subjunctive (Futuro do Conjuntivo).
This mood is triggered by conjunctions referring to an uncompleted future action, such as se (if), quando (when), and:
| as soon as | assim que |
Forming the Future Subjunctive
For regular verbs, the future subjunctive is very straightforward: take the full infinitive (like processar or adicionar) and add these endings:
| Subject | Ending | Example: processar |
|---|---|---|
| eu / ele / ela / você | (none) | processar |
| tu | -es | processares |
| nós | -mos | processarmos |
| eles / elas / vocês | -em | processarem |
Notice that the eu and ele/ela/você forms are identical to the infinitive.
Time Clauses: "Quando" and "Assim que"
Use quando or assim que followed by the future subjunctive for an action that will happen at a specific point in the future.
| When you add the product to the cart, you have to pay. | Quando adicionares o produto ao carrinho, tens de pagar. |
| As soon as I verify the shipping status, I will send you the message. | Assim que verificar o estado do envio, envio-te a mensagem. |
| The store gives you the refund when you return the product. | A loja dá-te o reembolso quando devolveres o produto. |
Conditions: "Se"
Use se (if) followed by the future subjunctive for realistic future conditions. The result clause usually takes the present or future indicative.
| If we add more books to the cart, shipping is cheaper. | Se adicionarmos mais livros ao carrinho, o envio é mais barato. |
| If the shipping company processes the package today, it leaves the warehouse tomorrow. | Se a transportadora processar a encomenda hoje, sai do armazém amanhã. |
| If they refund the money to that customer, I want the refund too. | Se eles reembolsarem o dinheiro àquele cliente, eu também quero o reembolso. |