Breakdown of Se o céu desanuviar, somos capazes de ir à esplanada.
a
to / at (direction)
ir
to go
se
if
o céu
the sky
ser capaz de
to be capable of, to be able to
desanuviar
to clear up
a esplanada
the terrace (of a café or restaurant)
Questions & Answers about Se o céu desanuviar, somos capazes de ir à esplanada.
Why does somos capazes de ir mean "we might go" rather than "we are capable of going"?
The phrase ser capaz de followed by an infinitive is frequently used in Portugal to express probability, much like "might" or "could" in English. While it can literally mean "capable of", the condition here (the weather clearing up) clearly points to a likely future possibility rather than a physical skill.
Is desanuviar in the infinitive form because it follows se?
It looks exactly like the infinitive, but it is actually the future subjunctive tense. In Portuguese, the conjunction se triggers the future subjunctive when talking about likely future conditions. For regular verbs like desanuviar, this form happens to be identical to the infinitive.
Why is somos in the present tense if the condition is about the future?
In "if" clauses that use the future subjunctive like se o céu desanuviar, the main clause often uses the present indicative to describe a planned or highly probable future result. You could technically use the future tense (seremos capazes), but the present tense is much more common and natural in everyday speech.
What exactly does the verb desanuviar mean?
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