Breakdown of Se eles perdessem, a derrota seria horrível.
ser
to be
eles
they (m)
perder
to lose
horrível
horrible
se
if
a derrota
the defeat
Questions & Answers about Se eles perdessem, a derrota seria horrível.
Why do we use perdessem here instead of the normal past tense?
The sentence describes a hypothetical or imaginary situation. In Portuguese, when you use se (if) to introduce an unlikely condition, you must use the imperfect subjunctive. For the verb perder with eles, that form is perdessem.
How do I build an imperfect subjunctive word like perdessem?
A great trick is to start with the simple past tense for eles, which is perderam. Drop the -ram ending to get the stem (perde-), and then add the imperfect subjunctive ending for eles, which is -ssem. This gives you perdessem!
Could I use the imperfect past tense instead of the conditional seria here?
Yes, absolutely! In everyday spoken Portuguese, people very often replace the conditional (seria) with the imperfect indicative (era) for the result part of the sentence. Saying ...a derrota era horrível sounds very natural and means the exact same thing.
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