Word
Exijo que a empresa tenha um plano.
Meaning
I demand that the company have a plan.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Exijo que a empresa tenha um plano.
ter
to have
um
a / an / some (all forms)
o plano
the plan
que
that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Exijo que a empresa tenha um plano.
Why does this sentence use tenha instead of the normal present tense tem?
The word exijo comes from exigir (to demand). Verbs that express a demand, wish, or order are strong triggers for the subjunctive mood. Because of this, the normal present tense tem changes to the present subjunctive form tenha.
How do we get the form tenha from the verb ter?
Ter (to have) is irregular. A great trick for finding the present subjunctive of many irregular verbs is to start with their normal eu (I) form in the present tense. For ter, that is tenho. We drop the final -o and add the opposite ending, which for an -er verb is -a. That gives us tenha!
Why do we need the word que? Couldn't I just use the infinitive verb and say "Exijo a empresa ter um plano"?
In Portuguese, when the person making the demand is different from the person or thing that has to perform the action, you must use que followed by the subjunctive. Here, "I" am doing the demanding, but "the company" is the one that has to have the plan. If the subject were the same, you could use the infinitive.
The word exijo is spelled with a "j", but the infinitive exigir uses a "g". Why does the spelling change?