Learn Portuguese (Portugal): É que não recebi a convocatória, senão comparecia. - The thing is I didn't receive the summons, otherwise I would attend.

É que não recebi a convocatória, senão comparecia.

The thing is I didn't receive the summons, otherwise I would attend.

Breakdown of É que não recebi a convocatória, senão comparecia.

Questions & Answers about É que não recebi a convocatória, senão comparecia.

Why start the sentence with É que instead of just saying Não recebi...?

É que is a very common conversational marker used to introduce a justification or excuse. It translates to 'The thing is...' or 'It's just that...'. Using it makes the speaker sound like they are explaining a misunderstanding rather than just stating a cold fact.

Why does the sentence use the imperfect tense comparecia to mean 'I would attend' instead of the conditional compareceria?

In spoken European Portuguese, the imperfect tense is frequently used instead of the conditional to express what 'would' happen. It sounds much more natural and conversational to say senão comparecia rather than the strictly formal senão compareceria.

What is the difference between senão (one word) and se não (two words)?

Written as one word, senão means 'otherwise' or 'else', which fits perfectly here to mean 'otherwise I would attend'. Written as two words, se não literally means 'if not' and is used to introduce a negative condition before a verb, such as se não chover (if it doesn't rain).

Is comparecer the standard word for 'to attend'?