The present subjunctive is a complete shock to students who have advanced to the intermediate level, confident that they have already mastered the basic grammar of Portuguese. And suddenly it turns out that a very important topic, which is absolutely indispensable even if you express yourself at a basic level, has not yet been mastered. No need to panic! We will tell you everything you need to know about the subjunctive mood in our series of articles.
Verb + que
We are sure that you will be surprised now. If you did not know this rule, then you have been speaking incorrectly all this time, because it is impossible to avoid using these verbs. One nuance! If the phrase is affirmative, then we use the usual present tense. However, if the same phrase is negative, that is, the negative particle “não” appears, we must use the present subjunctive mood. And here is a list of these verbs:
achar (to believe), crer (to suppose), julgar (to bet), parecer (to seem), pensar (to think)
You can see the proof in the examples:
- Acho que a sopa está fria. (I think the soup is cold.)
- Não acho que esta pêra seja doce. (I don’t think this pear is sweet.)
- Parece que estás feliz com essa mulher. (You seem happy with this woman.)
- Não parece que estejas muito preocupado com o trabalho. (You don’t seem very concerned about work.)
Do you feel that the negative particle “não” seems to deprive verbs of their strength? That is, in an affirmative state, they convey knowledge and beliefs, while in a negative state – confusion and doubts.
The verbs “ser” and “estar”
In the examples above, you have already encountered the forms of these verbs in the present subjunctive mood; however, we need to stop and discuss them in more detail. Both of these verbs are very often required in speech, and they are irregular, so their forms need to be memorized.
| Verbo «ser» | |
| eu | seja |
| tu | sejas |
| ele, ela, você | seja |
| nós | sejamos |
| eles, elas, vocês | sejam |
- Não penso que seja fácil resolver o problema. (I don’t think it will be easy to solve this problem.)
- Não acho que eles sejam inteligentes. (I don’t think they are smart.)
| Verbo «estar» | |
| eu | esteja |
| tu | estejam |
| ele, ela, você | esteja |
| nós | estejamos |
| eles, elas, vocês | estejam |
- Não creio que esteja calor na rua. (I don’t think it’s hot outside.)
- Não acho que estejas com febre. (I don’t think you have a fever.)
The verb “ir”
Since we are talking about irregular verbs, we need to look at the verb “ir” (to go). These three verbs (ser, estar, ir) change so much that memorizing them is equivalent to learning completely new verbs. But let’s not lament this for long and move on to the forms of the verb “ir”.
| Verbo «ir» | |
| eu | vá |
| tu | vás |
| ele, ela, você | vá |
| nós | vamos |
| eles, elas, vocês | vão |
What a relief that the last two forms in the table are the same as the ordinary present tense.
Não julgo que vá chover. (I’m not sure it’s going to rain.)
Não acredito que vás longe daqui. (I don’t believe you’ll get far from here.)
Confidence and obviousness
All languages have words that express one hundred percent confidence. However, if you add a negative particle, the meaning changes to the completely opposite, that is, the phrase expresses uncertainty and doubt. The verbs from the first paragraph of this article had exactly the same connotation.
So, let’s look at a list of inverted adverbs:
certo (certainly), claro (clearly), evidente (obviously), lógico (logically), óbvio (obviously), verdade (true)
When looking at the examples, remember that the affirmative phrase is Presente do Indicativo, and the negative phrase is Presente do Conjuntivo.
- É claro que ele é um bom amigo. (It is clear that he is a good friend.)
- Não é claro que ele seja um bom aluno. Falta a muitas aulas. (It is not clear that he is a good student. He misses a lot of classes.)
Instead of the word “claro” you can put any word from the list and the rule will work the same.
It is good that you can literally feel which rule to use.
Verb “dar”
Since we have decided to study irregular verbs in the present subjunctive mood today, let’s look at them to the end. The triad of verbs “ser, estar, ir” does not surprise us so much anymore, because in each grammar tense they behave the same way – they do not obey the rules. But this time, the verb “dar” (to give) has prepared a surprise for us, which has also become completely irregular, and now you will see for yourself.
| Verbo «dar» | |
| eu | dê |
| tu | dês |
| ele, ela, você | dê |
| nós | demos |
| eles, elas, vocês | deem |
- Não é lógico que lhe deem comprimidos. Ela está bêbada. (It is not logical that they are comparable. She is drunk.)
- Não é verdade que ele dê mais problemas que a irmã dele. (It is not true that he causes more problems than his sister.)
Verb “querer”
Not only does the phrase “querer que” (to want) require the use of Presente do
Conjuntivo after it, the verb itself is irregular! Its conjugation forms are as follows:
| Verbo «querer» | |
| eu | queira |
| tu | queiras |
| ele, ela, você | queira |
| nós | queiramos |
| eles, elas, vocês | queiram |
- Ele quer que eu queira passar o Natal com os pais dele! Ridículo! (He wants me to want to spend Christmas with his parents! Ridiculous!)
- Eu quero que a minha mãe queira ajudar-me no estudo.(I want my mother to want to help me with my studies.)
Conclusion
If we sum up the two articles about Presente do Conjuntivo, we can conclude that all cases of uncertainty, apprehension, fear, disbelief, doubts, assumptions, desires, thoughts provoke its appearance. However, not only these cases, but also those that we will talk about next time.
So you see, this is a big topic and it is better not to avoid it, although we understand that at this stage of learning Portuguese, your head is already overflowing with all sorts of rules. What to do about it? You just need to overcome it.