Question 1

Why does governasses end in -asses?

Accepted Answer

This is the Imperfect Subjunctive form of the regular AR verb governar for tu. We use this tense after se (if) to talk about a hypothetical situation. For regular AR verbs, you form the tu conjugation by adding -asses to the stem.

Question 2

The translation says 'we would have', so why does the Portuguese use tínhamos instead of the conditional teríamos?

Accepted Answer

While teríamos is grammatically correct for 'we would have', in everyday spoken Portuguese it is very common to replace the Conditional tense with the Imperfect Indicative (like tínhamos). It means the exact same thing in this type of 'if' sentence but sounds much more natural in conversation.

Question 3

Why is the pronoun tu included, but nós is left out before tínhamos?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, verb endings usually tell you the subject, so pronouns are often dropped. The ending in tínhamos makes it perfectly clear that the subject is nós (we). The tu in the first half could also be dropped, but including it adds a little emphasis: 'If YOU governed...'.

Question 4

How would the verb change if I wanted to use você instead of tu?

Accepted Answer

You would use the third-person singular form of the Imperfect Subjunctive. You just drop the final -s from the ending, making it: Se você governasse o país, tínhamos liberdade.

Se tu governasses o país, tínhamos liberdade.

Breakdown of Se tu governasses o país, tínhamos liberdade.

Questions & Answers about Se tu governasses o país, tínhamos liberdade.

Learn Se tu governasses o país, tínhamos liberdade and more in Portuguese