Word
Se tivéssemos programado melhor o robô, ele seria mais obediente hoje.
Meaning
If we had programmed the robot better, it would be more obedient today.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Se tivéssemos programado melhor o robô, ele seria mais obediente hoje.
ser
to be
ele
he
ter
to have
hoje
today
Questions & Answers about Se tivéssemos programado melhor o robô, ele seria mais obediente hoje.
Why does this sentence mix the past perfect subjunctive (tivéssemos programado) with the conditional (seria)?
This is a classic mixed conditional. We use the past perfect subjunctive (tivéssemos programado) for a hypothetical condition in the past (an action that did not happen). We then use the conditional (seria) because the result of that past action is happening right now in the present, which is emphasized by the word hoje.
The lesson title mentions using the imperfect past tense instead of the conditional. How would that look in this sentence?
In everyday spoken Portuguese, it is extremely common to replace the conditional tense with the imperfect past. In this case, seria becomes era. The sentence would be: Se tivéssemos programado melhor o robô, ele era mais obediente hoje. Both versions mean the exact same thing, but the era version sounds much more natural in casual conversation.
Could I put melhor at the end of the first clause, like Se tivéssemos programado o robô melhor?
Is it mandatory to include the pronoun ele in the second half of the sentence?