The Portuguese Subjunctive

A Grammar Workbook

Luís Gomes, Maria Madalena Gonçalves

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367441791
• eBook ISBN: 9781000453010
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The Portuguese Subjunctive: A Grammar Workbook is the first book devoted exclusively to understanding and mastering this challenging area of Portuguese grammar.

The clear structure guides students through the six subjunctive tenses, providing them with concise and accurate explanations accompanied by a range of exercises to test and consolidate learning. Each chapter is designed to help students progress from simple to more complex use of the language, with instructions initially set in English before moving to Portuguese, and exercises progressing from simple application to more advanced translation and 'compare and contrast' tasks.

This grammar workbook is ideal for intermediate to advanced learners of European or Brazilian Portuguese who wish to master the use of the subjunctive. It can be used as a supplementary in-class text as well as a resource for independent study.

PART IThe simple tenses of the subjunctive

1THE PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE

DOI: 10.4324/9781003008118-3

Antes que fales, vê o que dizes.

(conselho)

1.1 Morphology

1.1.1 Forming the present subjunctive

To form the present subjunctive, use the stem of the 1st person singular of the present indicative, remove the ending in —o, and add:

	Verbs ending in — AR	Verbs ending in — ER/OR^1 and — IR
eu	—e	—a
tu	—es	—as
você, ele, ela	—e	—a
nós	—emos	—amos
vocês, eles, elas	—em	—am

1.1.2 The regular present subjunctive

As expected, if the 1st person singular present indicative stem is unchanged, simply add the appropriate endings. Most verbs fall in this ‘regular’ category.

1 Verb pôr (to put), and those derived from pôr (e.g. repor, expor, depor, impor, etc.).

	—AR	—ER/ÔR	—IR
	CANTAR	CORRER	ABRIR
eu	cantE	corrA	abrA
tu	cantES	corrAS	abrAS
você, ele, ela	cantE	corrA	abrA
nós	cantEMOS	corrAMOS	abrAMOS
vocês, eles, elas	cantEM	corrAM	abrAM

1.1.3 The irregular present subjunctive

Irregularities happen often in the 1st person singular present indicative and are then simply transposed onto the present subjunctive (e.g., dizer > eu digo > eu diga). A small number differ a little more from the 1st person singular present indicative to the present subjunctive (e.g., ser). Finally, note that the 1st person plural of ir (‘to go’) is now written and pronounced exactly the same as the 1st person plural present indicative (vamos).

Verb	eu	tu	você, ele, ela	nós	vocês, eles, elas
CABER	caiba	caibas	caiba	caibamos	caibam
DAR	dê	dês	dê	demos	deem
DIZER	diga	digas	diga	digamos	digam
DORMIR	durma	durmas	durma	durmamos	durmam
ESTAR	esteja	estejas	esteja	estejamos	estejam
FAZER	faça	faças	faça	façamos	façam
HAVER	—	—	haja	—	—
IR	vá	vás	vá	vamos	vão
LER	leia	leias	leia	leiamos	leiam
OUVIR	ouça	ouças	ouça	ouçamos	ouçam
PASSEAR^2	passeie	passeies	passeie	passeemos	passeiem
PEDIR	peça	peças	peça	peçamos	peçam
PERDER	perca	percas	perca	percamos	percam
PODER	possa	possas	possa	possamos	possam
PÔR	ponha	ponhas	ponha	ponhamos	ponham
QUERER	queira	queiras	queira	queiramos	queiram
SABER	saiba	saibas	saiba	saibamos	saibam
SEGUIR	siga	sigas	siga	sigamos	sigam
SENTIR	sinta	sintas	sinta	sintamos	sintam
SER	seja	sejas	seja	sejamos	sejam
TER	tenha	tenhas	tenha	tenhamos	tenham
TRAZER	traga	tragas	traga	tragamos	tragam
VER	veja	vejas	veja	vejamos	vejam
VIR	venha	venhas	venha	venhamos	venham

2 Applies also to other verbs ending in —ear (recear, pentear, semear, estrear, etc.).

You can try a mnemonic exercise to help you learn these irregular verbs if you look for patterns. The above table lists verbs in alphabetical order, but can you rearrange it in an alternative meaningful way? Here’s a hint: vir (‘to come’) and ter (‘to have’) have similar sounding stem forms: venha and tenha. Can you form other pairs or groups that make sense to you?

1.1.4 Spelling changing stems

These are ordinary regular verbs, but the change in the ending from —o to —e or —a vowel forces the stem to suffer spelling alterations to accommodate the new vowel under strict spelling rules in Portuguese language, so as to preserve the pronunciation of the stem. This affects the consonant + vowel pairs:

• to preserve the [g] sound
  • /gar/ > /go/ > /gue/³ pagar > pago > pague
  • /guir/ > /go/ > /ga/ conseguir >consigo > consiga
• to preserve the [s] sound
  • /çar/ > /ço/ > /ce/ dançar > danço > dance
  • /cer/ > /ço/ > /ça/ descer > desço > desça
• to preserve the [3]⁴ sound
  • /gir/ > /jo/ > /ja/ dirigir > dirijo > dirija
• to preserve the [k] sound
  • /car/ > /co/ > /que/⁵ tocar > toco > toque

3 Silent /u/.

4 Pronounced as the /s/ in the English word ‘measure’.

5 Silent /u/.

A fairly exhaustive list of these spelling changing stems in the present subjunctive is provided as Appendix, with reference to further spelling or stem-changing peculiarities in the /guir/ and /gir/ groups.

1.2 Using the present subjunctive

The present subjunctive indicates a present or future action. It always conveys an idea of doubt, desire, eventuality, prohibition, supposition, necessity, suggestion, command or possibility, and also feelings (joy, sadness, fear, hope, surprise, etc.).

We find it in:

1.2.1 Independent clauses

• Expressing doubt:
  • Example: Talvez vá ao cinema amanhã.
• Expressing admiration or a strong desire in formulaic expressions:
  • Example:
    • Tomara que eles chegue...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Preliminary chapter
• PART I The simple tenses of the subjunctive
• PART II The perfect tenses of the subjunctive
• Answer key
• Appendix: Present subjunctive spelling changes
• Bibliography
• Index