Breakdown of A engenharia teria sido o meu destino.
ser
to be
ter
to have
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
o destino
the destination
Questions & Answers about A engenharia teria sido o meu destino.
How is the compound conditional formed in the phrase teria sido?
The compound conditional (condicional composto) is formed by taking the auxiliary verb ter in the simple conditional tense (here, teria for the first or third person singular) and adding the past participle of the main verb, which is sido (from ser). It translates perfectly to "would have been".
Why does the sentence start with A engenharia instead of just Engenharia?
In English, we usually drop the article for broad subjects or fields of study like "engineering" or "science". In Portuguese, however, you must use definite articles before abstract nouns and general concepts. Therefore, it has to be A engenharia.
I sometimes see possessives without the article. Why is it o meu destino here?
In European Portuguese, it is standard practice to use the definite article (like o) before a possessive pronoun (like meu) when it sits directly in front of a noun. You might see the article dropped in Brazilian Portuguese, but for everyday European Portuguese, you should keep the o.
Could I use the verb haver instead of ter to form this tense, making it haveria sido?