Breakdown of Se não obedeceres, vou proibir o videojogo.
não
not / no
ir
to go
se
if
obedecer
to obey
proibir
to forbid
o videojogo
the video game
Questions & Answers about Se não obedeceres, vou proibir o videojogo.
Why do we use the future subjunctive obedeceres here instead of the present tense?
In Portuguese, when you use se (if) to introduce a condition that might happen in the future, you must use the Future Subjunctive tense. While English uses the present tense ("If you do not obey"), Portuguese requires the Future Subjunctive to mark it as a hypothetical future event.
How is obedeceres formed? It looks like the infinitive with an -es added.
That is exactly how it works for regular verbs! To form the Future Subjunctive, you take the infinitive (obedecer) and add the ending for the person you are talking to. Since this is for tu (informal "you"), we add -es to get obedeceres.
The lesson mentions using the future tense in the main clause, but vou proibir uses the present tense of ir. Is that right?
Yes! In spoken and everyday Portuguese, the informal future (the present tense of ir + an infinitive) is used much more often than the "true" future tense. Vou proibir (I am going to forbid) functions perfectly as the future action here, and sounds much more natural than the formal proibirei.
Doesn't the verb obedecer normally require the preposition a? Why is it missing?
You have a great memory! Obedecer does take the preposition a when you mention who or what is being obeyed (for example, obedecer à mãe). But here, the person being obeyed is just implied. When you say "obey" as a general action without explicitly stating the target, you do not need the preposition.
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