Breakdown of Espero que ele não esteja a dormir, porque já estou pronta para sair!
não
not / no
ele
he
estar
to be (temporary / location)
pronto
ready
a
to / at (direction)
para
to / for
dormir
to sleep
sair
to go out
porque
because
já
already
que
that (conjunction)
esperar
to hope
Questions & Answers about Espero que ele não esteja a dormir, porque já estou pronta para sair!
Why use esteja a dormir instead of just the simple subjunctive durma?
The verb esperar (to hope) triggers the subjunctive. By using the continuous subjunctive (esteja + a + infinitive) instead of the simple present subjunctive (durma), the speaker emphasizes an action that might be happening right at this exact moment. It closely mirrors the English difference between 'is sleeping' and 'sleeps'.
If I swapped espero que with acho que (I think that), would the rest of the sentence stay the same?
No, the verb would change back to the indicative mood. Achar que expresses a belief or opinion, so you would say acho que ele não está a dormir. We only use esteja here because espero que expresses a wish, which requires the subjunctive mood.
How can we tell the gender of the person saying this sentence?
Is esteja a dormir the only way to express the continuous subjunctive here?
It is the standard way in European Portuguese. In Portugal, continuous actions are formed with estar + a + infinitive. If you are exposed to Brazilian Portuguese, you will instead hear the gerund form used for continuous actions, which would be esteja dormindo.
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