Breakdown of Assim que chegarmos, é possível que eles já estejam a beber um cocktail.
ser
to be
eles
they (m)
um
a / an / some (all forms)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
beber
to drink
a
to / at (direction)
chegar
to arrive
já
already
que
that (conjunction)
possível
possible
assim que
as soon as
o cocktail
the cocktail
Questions & Answers about Assim que chegarmos, é possível que eles já estejam a beber um cocktail.
Why is the verb chegar conjugated as chegarmos here instead of the standard future tense?
chegarmos is the Future Subjunctive. We use this tense after time conjunctions like Assim que (As soon as) or Quando (When) to talk about an event that hasn't happened yet but is anticipated in the future. Even though English uses the present tense to say arrive, Portuguese requires the future subjunctive.
Why are we using estejam a beber instead of just bebam?
This is the Continuous Subjunctive, which highlights an ongoing action. The phrase é possível que (it is possible that) triggers the subjunctive mood. However, using the simple present subjunctive (bebam) would sound like a single, completed action. To express that they might be in the middle of doing it when we arrive, we use estar in the present subjunctive (estejam) plus a and the infinitive (beber).
Could we use the Future Subjunctive for the second verb too, since the arrival is in the future?
No, the second clause is governed by the expression é possível que, which strictly takes the Present Subjunctive (or in this case, the present Continuous Subjunctive). Even though the whole scenario is in the future, the grammatical trigger é possível que demands the present subjunctive form estejam.
I have seen words ending in -ndo used for continuous actions. Why isn't it estejam bebendo?
Using the gerund (bebendo) to form the continuous is standard in Brazilian Portuguese and some regional dialects in southern Portugal. However, in standard European Portuguese, continuous actions are almost always formed with estar a followed by the infinitive, which is why we use a beber here.
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