The subjunctive (o conjuntivo) is the mood European Portuguese uses for what is wished, doubted, feared or not yet real, rather than stated as fact. It appears after triggers like espero que, I hope that, and talvez, maybe, as in espero que venhas, meaning I hope you come.
Portuguese splits its verbs into two moods. The indicative reports facts: ela vem, she is coming. The subjunctive handles everything that is not a plain fact, so a wish, a doubt, an emotion or a condition that has not happened yet. English barely marks this, which is why the mood feels strange at first.
The subjunctive trips learners up because it has no single English translation and three tenses of its own. The good news is that it is almost always switched on by a trigger word, so once you learn the triggers, you know when the mood is coming.
Key takeaways
- The subjunctive (o conjuntivo) is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and events that have not happened yet, not for stating plain facts.
- Common triggers are espero que, talvez, é importante que and quando about the future, as in quando chegares, meaning when you arrive.
- The Portuguese spoken in Portugal has three subjunctive tenses: present (venha), imperfect (viesse) and future (vier).
- The future subjunctive stays common in everyday Portugal Portuguese, in phrases like se quiseres, meaning if you want.
What is the subjunctive?
The subjunctive is the verb mood for the uncertain and the unreal. Where the indicative states that something is true, the subjunctive marks that something is only wished for, doubted, or still to come. The same verb changes shape to show the difference.
Compare sei que ela vem, I know she is coming, with espero que ela venha, I hope she comes. The first is a fact in the indicative, vem. The second is a hope in the subjunctive, venha. The trigger espero que flips the verb into the subjunctive.
When do you use the subjunctive?
You use the subjunctive after a trigger that signals the verb is not a plain fact. Most triggers fall into a few groups, and a que usually sits between the trigger and the subjunctive verb.
| Trigger type | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Wish | espero que venhas | I hope you come |
| Doubt | talvez chova | maybe it will rain |
| Emotion | é pena que vás | it is a shame you are going |
| Necessity | é importante que estudes | it is important that you study |
| Conjunction | embora esteja cansado | although I am tired |
How do you form the present subjunctive?
You build the present subjunctive from the eu form of the present indicative. Drop the final o, then add the opposite vowel endings: -ar verbs take an e, while -er and -ir verbs take an a. So falo becomes fale, como becomes coma, and parto becomes parta.
This "opposite vowel" rule also carries the irregular verbs, because most of them are irregular in the eu form too. Tenho gives tenha, venho gives venha, and faço gives faça. A handful stand fully apart: ser gives seja, estar gives esteja, and ir gives vá.
| Infinitive | Present subjunctive (eu) | English |
|---|---|---|
| falar | fale | that I speak |
| comer | coma | that I eat |
| partir | parta | that I leave |
| ter | tenha | that I have |
What are the three subjunctive tenses?
The subjunctive has three tenses, and each one matches a different time or degree of reality. The present covers a present or future wish, the imperfect covers a past or hypothetical one, and the future covers a real condition still to come.
| Tense | Example (vir) | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Present | venha | present or future wish |
| Imperfect | viesse | past or hypothetical wish |
| Future | vier | future condition with se or quando |
You can see all three at work. Espero que venhas is I hope you come, a present wish. Se viesses, ficava feliz is if you came, I would be happy, a hypothetical. Quando vieres, falamos is when you come, we will talk, a real future.
Why does the future subjunctive matter in Portugal?
The subjunctive rules are shared across the Portuguese-speaking world, so a rule you learn for Portugal also works in Brazil. What stands out in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal is how alive the future subjunctive is in ordinary speech. Phrases like se quiseres and quando puderes are everyday language, not textbook formality.
The second difference is the person forms. Portugal keeps tu as its everyday informal you, so learners meet the tu future subjunctive constantly: se quiseres, se puderes, quando chegares. Brazil leans on você, which uses the ele form, so the same ideas come out as se quiser and quando chegar. For the full split between the varieties, see how different is European Portuguese from Brazilian Portuguese?, and for the pronouns themselves see tu vs você in European Portuguese.
| Portugal (tu) | Brazil (você) | English |
|---|---|---|
| se quiseres | se você quiser | if you want |
| quando chegares | quando você chegar | when you arrive |
| se puderes | se você puder | if you can |
How do you stop freezing on the subjunctive?
The subjunctive is quick to read about and slow to produce, because in real speech you have no time to run through endings. The mood only turns automatic through use, so you have to say it, be corrected, and say it again until the trigger pulls the right form without thought.
This is where Fluentus fits. Fluentus teaches European Portuguese only, and its AI tutor holds spoken conversations with you 24 hours a day in a real human voice. The tutor corrects your subjunctive as you speak, so espero que and quando start pulling the right ending on their own. It runs courses from A1 to B2 with smart flashcards built from your own conversations, on iOS and Android.
In one sentence: use the subjunctive whenever a trigger word marks the verb as wished, doubted or not yet real, including after se and quando about the future.
Frequently asked questions
What is the subjunctive in Portuguese?
The subjunctive (o conjuntivo) is a verb mood for what is wished, doubted, feared or not yet real, rather than stated as fact. It appears after triggers such as espero que, I hope that, and talvez, maybe, as in espero que venhas, I hope you come.
When do you use the subjunctive?
You use the subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and necessity, such as quero que, duvido que and é importante que. You also use it after quando and se when they point to a future that has not happened yet, as in quando chegares, when you arrive.
Does the Portuguese spoken in Portugal use the future subjunctive?
Yes, the future subjunctive is a living, everyday tense in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. It appears in common phrases like se quiseres, if you want, and quando puderes, when you can. Learners meet it early, so it is worth drilling rather than treating as advanced grammar.
Is the subjunctive the same in Portugal and Brazil?
The rules for the subjunctive are shared across Portugal and Brazil, so the mood works the same way. The visible difference is the tu forms: Portugal keeps tu, so you hear se quiseres and quando chegares, where Brazil usually uses você with se quiser and quando chegar.