Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Portuguese (Portugal)

### The Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive (*pretérito imperfeito do conjuntivo*) is used to talk about hypothetical, unlikely, or impossible situations. It is frequently used to express wishes, imaginary conditions, or "what if" scenarios.

### Forming Regular Verbs

For regular verbs, forming the imperfect subjunctive is straightforward. Take the infinitive of the verb, drop the final **-r**, and add the imperfect subjunctive endings: **-sse**, **-sses**, **-sse**, **-ssemos**, **-ssem**.

| Pronoun | -ar verbs (governar) | -er verbs (viver) | -ir verbs (dividir) |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | governasse | vivesse | dividisse |
| tu | governasses | vivesses | dividisses |
| ele/ela/você | governasse | vivesse | dividisse |
| nós | governássemos | vivêssemos | dividíssemos |
| eles/elas/vocês | governassem | vivessem | dividissem |

*Note:* The **nós** form always requires a written accent on the vowel immediately preceding the ending (**á**, **ê**, or **í**).

### Hypothetical "If" Clauses (*Se*)

The most common use of the imperfect subjunctive is in hypothetical statements introduced by **se** (if). It describes a condition that isn't currently true or is highly unlikely.

*(Note: In everyday spoken Portuguese, the result half of these sentences often uses the imperfect indicative—like *havia* or *tínhamos*—rather than the conditional.)*

{{item:1000442}}

{{item:1000450}}

{{item:1000455}}

### Past Wishes and Opinions

Just as the present subjunctive follows present-tense expressions of desire or opinion, the imperfect subjunctive follows these same triggers when they are in the past. You will frequently see it after phrases like **queria que** (wanted that/us to), **desejava que** (wished that), or impersonal expressions like **era bom que** (it would be good if).

{{item:1000444}}

{{item:1000447}}

{{item:1000453}}

### *Como se* (As if)

The expression **como se** (as if) introduces an imaginary comparison. Because it is inherently hypothetical, it is always followed by the imperfect subjunctive.

{{item:1000451}}

The imperfect subjunctive: Regular verbs

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 utopia	a utopia
the harmony	a harmonia
If we lived in a utopia, there would be more harmony.	Se vivêssemos numa utopia, havia mais harmonia.
to cooperate	cooperar
I wanted us to cooperate in harmony.	Eu queria que nós cooperássemos em harmonia.
to eliminate	eliminar
the poverty	a pobreza
It would be good if they eliminated poverty.	Era bom que eles eliminassem a pobreza.
to govern	governar
the freedom	a liberdade
If you governed the country, we would have freedom.	Se tu governasses o país, tínhamos liberdade.
He spoke with me as if he governed the world.	Ele falava comigo como se governasse o mundo.
the resource	o recurso
It was important that they shared the resources with us.	Era importante que partilhassem os recursos connosco.
the wealth	a riqueza
If they divided the wealth, poverty would end.	Se dividissem a riqueza, a pobreza acabava.
I wished that they fought for freedom.	Desejava que lutassem pela liberdade.
We would use the resources well if we cooperated.	Nós usávamos bem os recursos se cooperássemos.
I asked the community to save me.	Eu pedi que a comunidade me salvasse.
For there to be harmony, it was necessary that they worked together.	Para haver harmonia, era preciso que trabalhassem juntos.
If society organized itself well, we would live in peace.	Se a sociedade se organizasse bem, vivíamos em paz.
the equality	a igualdade
I wanted equality to eliminate wealth and poverty.	Eu queria que a igualdade eliminasse a riqueza e a pobreza.
He desired a utopia so that equality would govern the nation.	Ele desejava uma utopia para que a igualdade governasse a nação.