Breakdown of Nós vamos marchar hoje, mesmo que chova.
nós
we
hoje
today
ir
to go
chover
to rain
mesmo que
even if
marchar
to march
Questions & Answers about Nós vamos marchar hoje, mesmo que chova.
Why do we use the subjunctive chova instead of the indicative chove here?
The phrase mesmo que (even if) sets up a hypothetical situation or a concession. In Portuguese, mesmo que always forces the verb that follows it into the subjunctive mood, because you are talking about an action that isn't guaranteed to happen, like the rain in this sentence.
Since we are talking about the future, why is chova in the present subjunctive rather than the future subjunctive?
This is a very common trap! While the word se (if) uses the future subjunctive for future possibilities (se chover = if it rains), the phrase mesmo que always pairs with the present subjunctive to express a future hypothetical situation (mesmo que chova = even if it rains).
Could I say mesmo se chover instead?
Yes, you can! Mesmo se also means "even if". However, because it uses the word se, it triggers the future subjunctive (mesmo se chover). Both mesmo que chova and mesmo se chover mean exactly the same thing, but mesmo que is generally more common in everyday Portuguese.
We are using vamos marchar for the future. Could we use the simple future tense marcharemos instead?
Yes, nós marcharemos is grammatically correct and means the exact same thing. However, in everyday spoken Portuguese, using the verb ir plus an infinitive (vamos marchar) is much more natural and common than using the single-word future tense.
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