Breakdown of Se a encosta estiver aberta e que andes a praticar, vais melhorar.
e
and
estar
to be (temporary / location)
a
to / at (direction)
ir
to go
que
that (conjunction)
andar
to walk
melhorar
to improve
se
if
praticar
to practice
aberto
open
a encosta
the slope
Questions & Answers about Se a encosta estiver aberta e que andes a praticar, vais melhorar.
Why is que used in this sentence instead of repeating se?
This is known as the vicarious que (o que vicário). In Portuguese, when you link two dependent clauses with e (and) that share the same subordinating conjunction, you usually replace the second conjunction with que to avoid repetition. In this sentence, que stands in for a second se (if).
Why is the first verb estiver in the future subjunctive, but the second verb andes is in the present subjunctive?
This is a crucial rule for this grammar structure. When que replaces a conjunction like se or quando, the verb that follows it must always be in the present subjunctive. The first clause uses the future subjunctive (estiver) because se triggers it for future possibilities, but the replacement que overrules that and forces the second verb into the present subjunctive (andes).
If I wanted to just repeat se instead of using que, how would the sentence change?
If you choose not to use the replacement que, you have to repeat se and go back to using the future subjunctive. The sentence would be: Se a encosta estiver aberta e se andares a praticar, vais melhorar. While this is grammatically correct, using que is heavily preferred by native speakers as it sounds much more elegant.
What exactly does the phrase andes a praticar mean here?
The verb andar followed by a and an infinitive (praticar) is used to express an ongoing, repeated, or continuous action. It translates well to the English 'have been practicing' or 'going around practicing'. Because of the preceding que, the verb andar takes the present subjunctive form andes.
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