Portuguese present subjunctive tense

Hello and welcome to our Portuguese Basic Tips number 48 in which we’ll speak about Portuguese present subjunctive tense

On today’s podcast we’re going to start speaking about Portuguese subjunctive tenses. I’ll try to be pretty straightforward with them, but we need to understand a few concepts first, so in this podcast we are going to focus on Portuguese present subjunctive tense. I’ll give you a few examples on how to use it, in addition to putting tables containing verbs that end with “ar”, “er” and “ir”, then you can try to repeat them with me while you read them on this episode’s page.

Click on the link to listen to our second episode of this series called Portuguese past subjunctive tense

Visit our third episode about subjunctive tenses in Portuguese called Portuguese future subjunctive tense

Click on the link to visit our episode about Portuguese verb conjugation in the present tense

We use the subjunctive mode in Portuguese when we want to express a possibility, something that you’re not so sure that will happen. That is, this expresses a hypothetical action.

For instance, when we are referring to someone in the Present tense, we are expressing something that – no matter what – will happen.

• Amanhã ele canta (He sings tomorrow)

If we use present subjunctive tense instead, we say:

• Talvez amanhã ele cante (Maybe he’ll sing tomorrow)

It is very common to us using this verb accompanied by other term: ‘que’ (meaning that).

 

For instance:

• É possível que ele cante hoje (He may sing today)
• Pode ser que ele fale algo (He may speak something)

At this stage, you already know that in Portuguese we have regular verbs ending with “ar”, “er” and “ir”, right? So, if you know how to conjugate a regular verb ending with “ar”, you know how to deal with all others that end like that.

For example: Let’s take the verbs “falar” (to speak) and “andar” (to walk) and try to conjugate them using Portuguese present subjunctive tense.

• É possível que eu fale amanhã (I may speak tomorrow)

If I wanted to say the same sentence, but this time using the verb “andar”. How do you think I can say that? Exactly!

• É possível que eu ande amanhã (I may walk tomorrow).

Have you noticed that the verbs are ending the same way? The same goes to verbs ending with “er” and “ir”.

Assuming that, I’ll conjugate the verbs “cantar” (to sing) , “vender” (to sell)  and “partir” (to leave), so you can practice the portuguese present subjunctive mode with other verbs

Cantar  (to sing) – Subjunctive

Repeat with me

Cantar	Portuguese present subjunctive
(Que) eu	Cante
(Que) tu	Cantes
(Que) ele	Cante
(Que) nós	Cantemos
(Que) vós	Canteis
(Que) eles	Cantem

 

Vender verb (to sell) – Present subjunctive

Now, repeat with me the verb “vender”, so you can practice with other verbs.

Vender	Portuguese present subjunctive
(Que) eu	Venda
(Que) tu	Vendas
(Que) ele	Venda
(Que) nós	Vendamos
(Que) vós	Vendais
(Que) eles	Vendam

 

 

Portuguese present subjunctive tense – Partir verb (to leave)

And to finish this, let’s try the verb “partir”, ending with “ir”. Repeat with me:

Partir (to leave)	Portuguese present subjunctive
(Que) eu	Parta
(Que) tu	Partas
(Que) ele	Parta
(Que) nós	Partamos
(Que) vós	Partais
(Que) eles	Partam

 

Click on the link to visit a website containing conjugations in Portuguese in the infinitive tense

Learn about Portuguese irregular verbs by clicking here

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Valeu e até a próxima!

Marcos Sales

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