Presente do Conjuntivo
As one of the tenses that makes up part of the conjuntivo (subjunctive) mood, the presente do conjuntivopresent subjunctive lets you talk about something that may or may not happen, but that is within the realm of possibility. This includes hopes, fears, doubts, and other hypotheticals. It tends to be paired with the presente do indicativo, such as in clauses beginning with:
- Espero que...I hope that...
- É importante que...It's important that...
- É bom que...It would be good if..., Literal - It is good that...
- Receio que...I'm afraid that...
- Duvido que...I doubt that...
- Desejo que...I wish that...
- Quer que eu...?Do you want me to...?
In the next lessons, we’ll focus on the presente do conjuntivo, but you will also learn and practice the futuro do conjuntivo and imperfeito do conjuntivo in separate units.
Presente do Conjuntivo: Regular Verb Endings
| -ar | -er / -ir | |
| Eu | -e | -a |
| Tu | -es | -as |
| Ele/Ela/Você | -e | -a |
| Nós | -emos | -amos |
| Eles/Elas/Vocês | -em | -am |
You’ll notice that the presente do conjuntivo has the same endings as those used in the imperative mood (except for 2nd person singular), but, in addition, also covers all the personal forms that the imperative mood is missing (I, they, etc).
- Imperative (“command” forms for 2nd person singular and plural):
One conjugation ‘trick’ that you also may find helpful here is to use the conjunction que before the pronoun. For example, using the verb chegar, you get: que eu chegue, que tu chegues, and so on. This trick makes the conjugation of the verb sound better and helps separate it from the indicative.
Presente do Conjuntivo: Irregular Verb Endings
With most irregular verbs, all you have to do is take the 1st person ending of the presente do indicativopresent indicative , and replace the -o with -a. For example:
- eu tenho → eu tenha
- eu faço → eu faça
Then, we keep the verb stem and the rest of the verb endings are the same as the ones seen in table above for the -ER / -IR verbs. Using the verb ter as an example, you get: eu tenha, tu tenhas, ele tenha, nós tenhamos, eles tenham.
With some verbs, however, you can’t rely on the indicativo to get to the conjuntivo, as in the exceptions below:
- brincar (play) – eu brinco → eu brinque;
- estar (be) – eu estou → eu esteja;
- querer (want) – eu quero → eu queira;
- saber (know) – eu sei → eu saiba;
- ser (be) – eu sou → eu seja;
- ir (go) – eu vou → eu vá;
- haver (have) – eu hei → eu haja;
Conjuntivo
Peço-te que sejas breveI ask that you be brief sing.,inf.
Conjuntivo
De forma a que estejamos prontosIn order for us to be ready
- eu estejai amconjuntivo > presente tu estejasYou sing.,inf. areconjuntivo > presente ele / ela estejaHe / She isconjuntivo > presente você estejayou areconjuntivo > presente nós estejamoswe areconjuntivo > presente eles / elas estejamthey areconjuntivo > presente vocês estejamyou areconjuntivo > presente
Examples
Now that we know how to conjugate verbs in this tense, let’s see a few examples in sentence form:
Quero que jantem connosco amanhãI want you(pl.) to eat dinner with us tomorrow
Espero que ganhes o jogoI hope that you (sing.,inf.) win the game
Pode ser que dê para irmos à praiaWe might be able to go to the beach
Talvez tente outra vezMaybe I'll try (it) again
Present Tense: Comparing Conjuntivo vs. Indicativo
The use of the conjuntivo is often mandatory. The examples we’ve given so far wouldn’t be correct if the verbs were in the indicativo. However, there are certain cases in which both moods are possible, with each resulting in a different meaning. Let’s see an example:
Não sei o que digaI don't know what to say
Não sei o que digoI don't know what I'm saying
The first sentence is in modo conjuntivo and it translates to “I don’t know what to say” – the speaker might be speechless or not sure what to say to other person (refers to the possibility of saying something). The second is in modo indicativo and it translates to “I don’t know what I’m saying” – the speaker is not sure of what he’s saying (refers to what he is actually, currently saying) maybe because s/he is confused or not making any sense.
Olá! Porque nos exercícios diz “esperemos que gostem”? Pode dizer também “espere que” em vez que “espero que”? Parece-me que são os mesmos. Estou muito feliz para essas lições do conjuntivo! Muito obrigado!
Olá! We can use “esperemos que gostem” and “esperamos que gostem” interchangeably, but grammatically speaking, they are slightly different:
– Esperamos que gostem -> By using the present indicative, this not only feels more concrete, but also more immediate. It fits well when you’re showing something to people now.
– Esperemos que gostem -> By using the present subjunctive, you’re emphasizing the hypothetical and wishful nature of the subjunctive mood. So, it can be taken as a stronger expression of your desire for people to like it. It also feels less factual or “right now”, and more abstract. You could be saying, for example, that you hope that people like it whenever they get to see what you have to show them.
This all depends on context and each person’s individual intention. We usually wouldn’t read so much into either of them! Also, for some reason, they’re interchangeable for the 1st person plural, but not the others. We don’t say “espere que”, only “espero que”.
(Desculpa, só me lembrei que escreveste o teu comentário em português depois de já ter escrito a minha resposta em inglês! Mas pronto, assim mais pessoas poderão perceber 🙂 )
Muito obrigado pela tua explicação! Faz sentido agora! Eu sempre penso demais!
De nada!
Olà Joseph
As tuas explicações sempre são ótimas, muito compreensíveis mesmo para pessoas que não gostam tanto de gramática.
Na tua resposta ao Derek escriveste: Mas pronto, assim mais pessoas poderão perceber.
O que significa aqui: MAS PRONTO? Seria algo do género BUT THAT WAY?
Nos meus dicionários não consegui encontrar essa expressão.
Olá, Barbara. Obrigado! A expressão “mas pronto” é uma espécie de filler. Neste contexto, significa “Oh well” ou “Whatever” 🙂
Obrigada. Então é como eu pensei. Pronto, pois, então ….
Hey there – just a heads up, it seems the audio files for the conjugations of “dar” are broken. I’d love to hear those pesky “e” vowels! Thanks all for your great work on the site.
I have struggled to understand the conjunctivo for quite a while, so I am very happy to see these lessons. The section comparing conjuntivo and indicativo is really helpful! The examples “não sei o que diga” vs “não sei o que digo” really help me understand the nuances. Great work! 🙂
Hi
Just to say the audios for the verb ‘dar’ don’t seem to be working whereas all the other examples are working fine.
Thanks, we’ll look into this! In the meantime, you can hear the audio for dar on this page: Dar – Conjuntivo – Presente
Are these two expressions interchangeable?
Nãe sei o que estou a dezir.
Não sei o que diga.
I believe the first is present continuous and the second is present subjunctive (although don’t quote me on that). My understanding is that these would have the same English translations, although DeepL doesn’t agree. I get, respectively, these translations:
I don’t know what I’m saying.
I don’t know what to say.
You’re right about the tenses: present continuous for “Não sei o que estou a dizer”, and present subjunctive for “Não sei o que diga”. But DeepL is right about the meanings 🙂 The sentences are not interchangeable. However, “Não sei o que diga” and “Não sei o que dizer” (simple present) would be.
Oops. I meant
Não sei o que digo
Missed it by one letter. Is this one the same as the present continuous version?
Ah! Yes, it can be. “Não sei o que digo” can mean “I don’t know what I’m saying”, “I don’t know what I say” and sometimes even “I don’t know what to say”.
Hi, My teacher tells me that in the present subjunctive Eles/Elas and Vocês are ALWAYS the same and the Eles Deem should be Eles Dêem and she has shown me this in an official dictionary. Please can you explain as I trust you both!
Kind Regards
Jim
Olá. In every single tense, eles/elas and vocês share the same conjugations – your teacher is absolutely correct there! We are separating them in our conjugation tables just for easier distinction of what’s “they” and what’s “you”, but you’ll note that the verb conjugations are the same. I noticed that one of the examples had mismatched accents, but that was an accidental typo – already fixed 🙂
About ‘dêem’ vs. ‘deem’, only the latter is correct nowadays, after our latest spelling reform (Acordo Ortográfico) was implemented. If you saw the previous spelling ‘dêem’ in an official dictionary, it only means that the dictionary is outdated. You can refer to this source if it helps: Portal da Língua Portuguesa | Formas verbais cuja grafia muda
Hi Joseph,
Thank very much for clarifying this. As a beginner it is disconcerting when teachers do not agree – but your explanation of the new and old way of writing things is really useful.
Kind Regards,
Jim
Firstly thanks for this lesson! I never quite understood the use or sadly even the need for the subjunctive in Portuguese, but this lesson has definitely changed that! I do however have a question or a concern. I read somewhere on the internet that the first person plural of the presente do conjuntivo is dêmos with the accent. On this page it has demos without the accent which makes it identical to the first person plural of the pretérito perfeito. Which one is it? Are they pronounced they same regardless of the answer? Thanks in advance for all the help!
Olá! Thank you for your message 🙂 Since our latest spelling reform (Acordo Ortográfico), the accent in the present subjunctive form ‘demos’ is optional. With or without an accent, the European Portuguese pronunciation should be distinct from the simple past form. Just for clarity, I’ve added the accent here, and also corrected the audio example, which seemed to be mismatched – sorry about that!
Thanks so much for you prompt response. Very helpful!
Great explanation in this section and the example for digo vs diga makes a lot of sense. What about the below example? Are there any differences there?
“Eu quero que ele vai embora” vs “Eu quero que ele vá embora”
I’d imagine based on this context it would make more sense to use the subjunctive?
In this case, only the second example (in the subjunctive) is grammatically correct 🙂 The indicative mood cannot be used in the second part of this sentence. Thank you for your feedback, by the way!
Olá! Nas conjugações do verbo “dar,” diz “eles deem” e “vocês dêem.” Devem ser iguais, não é? Sem acento?
Mais uma coisa: estou confuso com a diferença entre a pronuncia de “demos” [conjuntivo] e “demos” [pretérito perfeito]. Ouvi as gravações e parecem ser as mesmas. Podem explicar?
Obrigado pela vossa ajuda e por criar este recurso fantástico.
Obrigado pelo comentário e pelo olhar e ouvido atentos – tínhamos algumas correções a fazer! Desculpa a confusão 🙂 Tal como disseste, “deem” escreve-se sempre sem acento, em qualquer conjugação. Por outro lado, devemos usar o acento circunflexo para distinguir “dêmos” (conjuntivo) de “demos” (pretérito perfeito). O acento estava em falta em “nós dêmos”, mas já foi corrigido. O acento indica que a vogal E é pronunciada com um som mais fechado do que em “demos”.
Obrigado!
In this example “Pode ser que dê para irmos à praia”, it is translated into English as “We might be able to go to the beach”. My understanding is that “dê” is the present subjunctive form of the verb “dar”, which means “give”. Therefore, wouldn’t the example sentence be translated wrongly? Curious.
Olá. The verb ‘dar’ is a very versatile verb, with a number of idiomatic uses that go beyond its base meaning of “give”. In this case, it’s part of the phrase “dar para…”, which is used here in reference to something that is possible or allowed. Here’s the same sentence broken down and translated rather literally, for your understanding:
– Pode ser (it could be) que dê para (that it’s possible for) irmos (us to go) à praia (to the beach)
The verb ‘dar’ is discussed in detail in this video: The Verb “Dar” And Its Many Meanings | Practice Portuguese