Breakdown of Sempre que regressarem, acomodaremos a maioria dos amigos.
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
o amigo
the friend (m)
a maioria
the majority
sempre que
whenever
regressar
to return
acomodar
to accommodate
Questions & Answers about Sempre que regressarem, acomodaremos a maioria dos amigos.
Why is regressarem used here instead of the present tense regressam?
The phrase sempre que (whenever) triggers the future subjunctive when talking about a future event. Because the main action (acomodaremos) will happen in the future, the returning has not happened yet either, so we must use the future subjunctive regressarem.
Could we ever use the indicative after sempre que?
Yes, but it changes the meaning to a present or past habit. If the sentence was Sempre que regressam, acomodamos a maioria dos amigos, it would mean 'Whenever they return, we accommodate...' as a regular, ongoing fact.
Is regressarem the personal infinitive or the future subjunctive? They look exactly the same!
It is the future subjunctive. For regular verbs like regressar, the personal infinitive and future subjunctive share the exact same spelling. You can tell it is the future subjunctive here because sempre que grammatically requires it for future situations.
Why is it a maioria dos amigos and not just a maioria de amigos?
The phrase a maioria (the majority) requires the preposition de. Because we are referring to specific friends, we also need the definite article os (the). When you combine de and os, you get the contraction dos.
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