And suffer you will because the Portuguese equivalent of the ‘if-clauses’ is somewhat more complex. You might have heard of the notorious Conjuntivo (Subjunctive mood in English), which the Portuguese language lives off, a lot more than the other Romance languages.

Just because you’re starting out learning Portuguese, it doesn’t mean you can’t sound more literate than even some of us, especially if you’re still struggling with the conjugation of irregular verbs in the Present tense.

Did you know that the Conjuntivo is very regular in its declension? What people seem to be annoyed by is when to use it.

Far from attempting to give you a grammar lesson here, I only want to point out some common triggers of the Conjuntivo, namely:


- TALVEZ (perhaps) vá a Braga amanhã.

- ESPERO QUE(I hope that) tenhas um bom dia de anos.

- É POSSÍVEL QUE (It’s possible that) ela venha, mas não tenho a certeza.

- DUVIDO QUE (I doubt) ele saiba onde fica o restaurante.

- NÃO É QUE (It’s not that) não goste de queijo, mas faz-me mal.


It’s all wishes, doubts, possibilities, uncertainties… Nothing real, really, although it is a thing in Portuguese.

Try taking a break from making sense of what we say and impress everyone by using some of these expressions.

Talvez seja uma boa ideia...

If you have enjoyed this quick lesson and would like to learn more Portuguese outside of the box, then please contact Catarina from The Language Unschool - catarina@thelanguageunschool.com