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Quick Grammar Reference
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>>Verbs > Future Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood is harder for an English speaker to use than the indicative mood. (also see the sections on the indicative mood and the imperative mood in verbs). Among the languages it's closely related to, the future subjunctive is unique to Portuguese.
The tense refers to the time period of a verb. The future tense is used to show that the verb represents an action that will take place in the future.
To form the future subjunctive, you will take the eles, elas form of the verb in the preterit, and remove the final -am ending. Notice that, for irregular verbs, this always corresponds to the infinitive (with its -ar, -er, or -ir ending). Then add the following endings. See the section on subject pronouns for more information on the pronouns listed in the left column.
| -ar verbs (falar to speak) | -er verbs (vender to sell) | -ir verbs (partir to leave) | |
| eu | -ar (falar) | -er (vender) | -ir (partir) |
| tu (Portugal only) | -ares (falares) | -eres (venderes) | -ires (partires) |
| ele, ela, você | -ar (falar) | -er (vender) | -ir (partir) |
| nós | -armos (falarmos) | -ermos (vendermos) | -irmos (partirmos) |
| vós (archaic) | -ardes (falardes) | -erdes (venderdes) | -irdes (partirdes) |
| eles, elas, vocês | -arem (falarem) | -erem (venderem) | -irem (partirem) |
In Portuguese, you will use the future subjunctive to express actions that are not certain to take place in the future. Unlike the action of an indicative verb that will take place, subjunctive actions may or may not occur.
The future subjunctive is extremely common after the words se if and quando when. These words allow Portuguese speakers to introduce doubt or uncertainty when speaking about a future action. Here are some examples:
Não entraremos se falarmos assim we won't get in if we speak like that. In this sentence, entrar to enter is in the future indicative and falar to speak in the future subjunctive.
Vocês telefonarão quando partirem? will you all call when you leave? In this sentence, telefonar to telephone, to make a phone call is in the future indicative and partir to leave in the future subjunctive.
Do not confuse the future subjunctive and the personal infinitive, since they are identical for most verbs. The personal infinitive is not found after se or quando.
Keep in mind that, unlike in English, it is not necessary to use a subject pronoun or a noun with the verb. Se falar and se eu falar both mean if I will speak. You may choose to use them when clarifying (se ela falar if she will speak, when she is not already obvious from context) or emphasizing (se eles falarem if THEY will speak). This is especially useful when distinguishing between eu, ele, ela, and você, since they always share the same form in the future subjunctive.