Breakdown of Telefona-me quando chegares a casa.
a casa
the house
quando
when
chegar
to arrive
telefonar
to phone, to call
Questions & Answers about Telefona-me quando chegares a casa.
Why is it chegares instead of the present tense chegas?
In Portuguese, time conjunctions like quando require the future subjunctive when referring to an action that hasn't happened yet. Because you are addressing someone informally with the tu command Telefona, you must use the tu form of the future subjunctive, which is chegares.
Why does the sentence use a casa instead of à casa or para casa?
The verb chegar always requires the preposition a for destinations. Furthermore, when referring to one's own home, Portuguese drops the definite article, similar to how we say home instead of to the home in English. Therefore, it is just a casa. Using à casa would sound like you are arriving at a specific, previously mentioned house rather than simply getting home.
Are chegares (future subjunctive) and chegares (personal infinitive) the exact same word here?
Yes, they look identical! For all regular verbs, the future subjunctive shares the exact same spelling as the personal infinitive. You only know this is the future subjunctive because of the grammar rule triggered by the word quando for future events. If the verb were irregular, like ir, the difference would be obvious, as you would say quando fores.
Why is the pronoun placed after the verb in Telefona-me?
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