Se não há alternativa, adiaremos a reunião.
If there is no alternative, we will postpone the meeting.
Breakdown of Se não há alternativa, adiaremos a reunião.
não
not / no
haver
to be (there is / there are)
a reunião
the meeting
se
if
a alternativa
the alternative
adiar
to postpone
Questions & Answers about Se não há alternativa, adiaremos a reunião.
Why is há in the present tense when the second half of the sentence is about the future?
In first conditional sentences, you are talking about a real possibility. Just like in English, the condition clause with Se (If) takes the present tense, giving us Se não há (If there is no). The result clause then uses the future tense, like adiaremos (we will postpone), to show what will happen.
Could I use tem instead of há to say "there is no alternative"?
How is the future tense verb adiaremos formed here?
For regular verbs in the future tense, you take the entire infinitive word and add the ending. Here, we take adiar (to postpone) and add the nós (we) ending -emos, making adiaremos.
Can I use the present tense instead of adiaremos for the second half of the sentence?
Absolutely. In everyday European Portuguese, the present tense is frequently used to talk about future plans. You can naturally say Se não há alternativa, adiamos a reunião. Using the actual future tense adiaremos just sounds slightly more formal or definite.
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