Breakdown of Se entrares no teleférico e que tenhas medo, fecha os olhos.
e
and
ter
to have
em
in / on / at
entrar
to enter
o
him/it (m)
que
that (conjunction)
fechar
to close
se
if
o olho
the eye
o medo
the fear
o teleférico
the cable car
Questions & Answers about Se entrares no teleférico e que tenhas medo, fecha os olhos.
Why do we use que right after e in this sentence?
This is known as the que vicário (vicarious "que"). Instead of repeating the conjunction se (if) in the second part of the condition ("and if you are afraid"), Portuguese often uses que as a placeholder to avoid repetition. It means exactly the same thing but makes the sentence sound more fluid.
Since the first verb entrares is in the future subjunctive, why is tenhas in the present subjunctive?
This is the trickiest part of replacing se with que! When you use se for a future possibility, it triggers the future subjunctive (like se entrares). However, when you replace the second se with que, the grammatical rule changes: this specific que forces the present subjunctive. So, "and if you are afraid" becomes e que tenhas medo instead of e se tiveres medo.
Could I just repeat se instead? How would the sentence change?
Yes, you can! If you choose not to use the replacing que, you would simply repeat se. But remember, se requires the future subjunctive here, so the phrase would become: ...e se tiveres medo, fecha os olhos. Both versions are perfectly correct, but replacing the second conjunction with que is a very common marker of advanced Portuguese.
Why is the final verb fecha instead of fechas?
Fecha is the affirmative imperative (command) form for tu (informal "you"). To form the affirmative imperative for tu, you simply drop the final "s" from the present tense form (tu fechas becomes fecha tu). Since the rest of the conditional sentence relies on tu forms (entrares, tenhas), the final command must also agree.
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