Breakdown of Quando chegarmos ao campismo, teremos de montar a tenda.
a
to / at (direction)
quando
when
ter de
to have to
chegar
to arrive
montar
to assemble
a tenda
the tent
o campismo
the camping
Questions & Answers about Quando chegarmos ao campismo, teremos de montar a tenda.
Why do we use chegarmos instead of the regular future tense chegaremos after quando?
In Portuguese, when quando introduces an action that has not happened yet, it requires the Future Subjunctive tense. This shows that the arrival is an anticipated event. We reserve the normal future tense for the main action of the sentence.
How do we build the Future Subjunctive form chegarmos?
For regular verbs like chegar, the Future Subjunctive is identical to the Personal Infinitive. You simply take the infinitive (chegar) and add the personal ending for nós, which is -mos, resulting in chegarmos.
Why is the main verb teremos in the normal future tense rather than the Future Subjunctive?
The Future Subjunctive is only triggered inside the time clause (the part starting with quando). The main clause (teremos de montar a tenda) describes what will actually happen once that time comes, so it uses the normal Future Indicative.
Why does the sentence say chegarmos ao instead of chegarmos no for 'arrive at the'?
While English speakers say 'arrive at' or 'arrive in', the Portuguese verb chegar requires the preposition a (to). When you combine a with the masculine article o from o campismo, it contracts into ao.
Learn Quando chegarmos ao campismo, teremos de montar a tenda and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free