Imperfect Subjunctive in Portuguese

In Brief

The Portuguese imperfect subjunctive uses forms such as falasse, pudesse, and fosse. It commonly appears when a past-tense verb introduces a wish, doubt, request, or reaction, and after se in unreal or unlikely conditions: Se pudesse, iria (“If I could, I would go”). Form it from the third-person plural of the preterite by removing -ram and adding the -sse endings.

Overview

The subjunctive is a verb mood (a set of forms that presents an event through ideas such as wishing, doubt, possibility, or dependence rather than simply stating it as fact). The imperfect subjunctive, called conjuntivo imperfeito in Portugal and often pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo in Brazil, places such an event in a past or hypothetical frame.

At B2, this form becomes essential for talking about what someone wanted, doubted, or required in the past: Queria que viesses (“I wanted you to come”). It is also the normal form in unreal present conditions: Se tivéssemos dinheiro, viajaríamos mais (“If we had money, we would travel more”). Despite the word “imperfect,” it does not work like the ordinary Portuguese imperfect indicative in falava or comia. Here, “imperfect” names a tense within the subjunctive system.

English often hides this distinction. “I wanted her to stay,” “If I were you,” and “They spoke as if they knew” use different English structures, but Portuguese can mark all three dependent verbs with the same -sse tense. Learning the form as part of complete patterns—queria que..., se..., como se...—is therefore more effective than trying to translate one English tense at a time.

How It Works

Building the stem from the preterite

Start with the third-person plural preterite (the completed-past “they” form), remove -ram, and add the imperfect-subjunctive endings.

Infinitive	“They” preterite	Remove -ram	Imperfect subjunctive
falar	falaram	fala-	falasse
comer	comeram	come-	comesse
partir	partiram	parti-	partisse
ter	tiveram	tive-	tivesse
fazer	fizeram	fize-	fizesse
vir	vieram	vie-	viesse

This rule is especially useful because it also captures irregular verbs. You do not need a separate unpredictable subjunctive stem: if you know tiveram, puderam, and disseram, you can produce tivesse, pudesse, and dissesse.

The complete endings

The endings are the same for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. In the nós and vós forms, the vowel immediately before -ssemos or -sseis carries a written accent.

Person	falar	comer	partir
eu	falasse	comesse	partisse
tu	falasses	comesses	partisses
ele/ela/você	falasse	comesse	partisse
nós	falássemos	comêssemos	partíssemos
vós	falásseis	comêsseis	partísseis
eles/elas/vocês	falassem	comessem	partissem

The first- and third-person singular forms are identical, so the subject must come from context or be stated when ambiguity matters. Se falasse mais devagar can mean “if I spoke more slowly” or “if he/she spoke more slowly.”

High-frequency irregular forms

Infinitive	Preterite base	Imperfect subjunctive
ser / ir	foram	fosse, fosses, fosse, fôssemos, fôsseis, fossem
estar	estiveram	estivesse...
ter	tiveram	tivesse...
poder	puderam	pudesse...
querer	quiseram	quisesse...
saber	souberam	soubesse...
fazer	fizeram	fizesse...
dizer	disseram	dissesse...
trazer	trouxeram	trouxesse...
pôr	puseram	pusesse...
vir	vieram	viesse...

Because ser and ir share foram in the preterite, both have fosse. Context supplies the meaning: como se fosse verdade means “as if it were true,” while queria que ele fosse ao médico means “I wanted him to go to the doctor.”

After a past viewpoint

A past verb or expression often shifts a present-subjunctive dependent clause into the imperfect subjunctive. A dependent clause is a part of a sentence that relies on another clause, often introduced here by que.

Present viewpoint	Past viewpoint
Quero que venhas. — I want you to come.	Queria que viesses. — I wanted you to come.
Duvido que saiba. — I doubt that he/she knows.	Duvidava que soubesse. — I doubted that he/she knew.
É importante que façam isso. — It is important that they do that.	Era importante que fizessem isso. — It was important that they do that.

The trigger still matters. A past tense alone does not automatically require the subjunctive. Compare Eu sabia que ele estava em casa (“I knew he was at home”), which presents the information as a fact, with Eu duvidava que ele estivesse em casa (“I doubted he was at home”), which presents doubt.

Unreal conditions with se

For a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situation in the present or future, use:

se + imperfect subjunctive → conditional

Se eu tivesse mais tempo, aprenderia outra língua. “If I had more time, I would learn another language.”

The se clause gives the unreal condition; the other clause gives its imagined result. The clauses may change order without changing the basic meaning: Aprenderia outra língua se tivesse mais tempo. Do not put the conditional directly after conditional se in this pattern.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Queria que viesses mais cedo.	I wanted you to come earlier.	Past wish; European tu form
O diretor pediu que esperássemos lá fora.	The director asked us to wait outside.	Past request
Duvidávamos que a loja estivesse aberta.	We doubted that the shop was open.	Past doubt
Era importante que todos soubessem a verdade.	It was important for everyone to know the truth.	Past impersonal evaluation
Fiquei contente que vocês pudessem participar.	I was glad that you could take part.	Emotional reaction; plural vocês
Se pudesse, fá-lo-ia hoje.	If I could, I would do it today.	Unreal condition; formal/literary pronoun placement
Se tivéssemos carro, visitaríamos mais lugares.	If we had a car, we would visit more places.	Hypothetical present situation
Eu não diria isso se fosse você.	I would not say that if I were you.	Advice through a hypothetical
Oxalá estivesses aqui.	I wish you were here.	Unfulfilled or unlikely wish
Ela falava comigo como se me conhecesse há anos.	She spoke to me as if she had known me for years.	como se always frames a comparison as non-factual
Ele gastava dinheiro como se fosse rico.	He spent money as if he were rich.	Appearance contrasted with reality
Procuravam alguém que falasse japonês.	They were looking for someone who spoke Japanese.	Desired person not identified as a fact
Não havia nada que eu pudesse fazer.	There was nothing I could do.	Negative or indefinite antecedent
Talvez fosse melhor adiar a reunião.	Perhaps it would be better to postpone the meeting.	Tentative suggestion

Common Mistakes

Using the ordinary imperfect after a subjunctive trigger

• Wrong: Queria que tu vinhas cedo.
• Right: Queria que tu viesses cedo.
• Why: Querer que introduces a desired action by another subject. With the wanting viewed in the past, Portuguese normally uses the imperfect subjunctive in the dependent clause.

Putting the conditional after conditional se

• Wrong: Se eu teria dinheiro, viajaria.
• Right: Se eu tivesse dinheiro, viajaria.
• Why: An unreal condition uses se + imperfect subjunctive. The conditional belongs in the result clause.

Building the stem from the infinitive

• Wrong: Se eu poderesse...
• Right: Se eu pudesse...
• Why: Use the third-person plural preterite: puderam minus -ram gives the base for pudesse.

Forgetting the accent in the nós form

• Wrong: Se nos pudessemos encontrar...
• Right: Se nós pudéssemos encontrar...
• Why: The verb form is pudéssemos. The pronoun nós also needs its accent when it is written.

Treating every past subordinate clause as subjunctive

• Wrong: Eu sabia que ele fosse médico.
• Right: Eu sabia que ele era médico.
• Why: Saber presents the information as known fact here, so the indicative is normal. The subjunctive depends on meaning—doubt, desire, requirement, non-identification—not merely on the word que or a past main verb.

Using the imperfect subjunctive for an unreal past event

• Wrong: Se soubesse ontem, teria vindo.
• Right: Se tivesse sabido ontem, teria vindo.
• Why: A condition that was already impossible in the past normally needs the pluperfect subjunctive, tivesse + past participle. The simple soubesse more naturally describes a present or ongoing hypothetical state.

Usage Notes

European and Brazilian terminology

In Portugal, textbooks generally call the mood conjuntivo; in Brazil, subjuntivo is standard. The forms themselves are the same. Pronoun choice and placement around them may differ, however: European Portuguese readily uses tu forms such as viesses, while many Brazilian speakers use você with the third-person form viesse.

The conditional result in everyday speech

The reference pattern is Se tivesse tempo, viajaria. In informal speech, especially in Brazil but also elsewhere, the ordinary imperfect indicative often replaces the conditional in the result: Se eu tivesse tempo, viajava mais. This is natural conversational Portuguese. For careful writing and for mastering the contrast, learn the conditional pattern first.

Politeness and distance

The imperfect can make requests and proposals sound less direct because it places them at a distance from immediate reality: Queria que me ajudasse (“I’d like you to help me”). Here queria may refer to a current polite wish, while ajudasse follows its past-shaped viewpoint. English often uses “would like,” so a word-for-word tense match is not reliable.

Oxalá and degrees of likelihood

Oxalá introduces a wish and takes the subjunctive. The present subjunctive often leaves the wish more open—Oxalá ele venha (“I hope he comes”)—whereas the imperfect can suggest greater distance, difficulty, or an unreal present wish: Oxalá ele viesse (“If only he would come”). Context and intonation affect how pessimistic the speaker sounds.

Beyond the Basics

Imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive?

The imperfect subjunctive usually describes a simultaneous or later event viewed from a past point, or an unreal situation now:

• Esperava que ele chegasse cedo. — I hoped he would arrive early.
• Se morasse perto, ia a pé. — If I lived nearby, I would go on foot.

The pluperfect subjunctive (a compound form for an event completed before another past point) uses tivesse/houvesse + past participle:

• Esperava que ele já tivesse chegado. — I hoped he had already arrived.
• Se tivesse saído cedo, não teria perdido o comboio. — If I had left early, I would not have missed the train.

This time relationship matters more than the English surface form. Ask whether the dependent event is ongoing/simultaneous or already completed.

Relative clauses with an unidentified person or thing

The form also appears when a past search, need, or negative statement refers to someone or something not established as real or specific:

• Precisávamos de uma sala que tivesse luz natural. — We needed a room that had natural light.
• Não encontrei ninguém que soubesse responder. — I found nobody who knew how to answer.

If the speaker identifies the person or thing as factual, the indicative is more likely: Conheci uma pessoa que sabia responder (“I met a person who knew how to answer”).

Como se and imagined appearance

Como se (“as if”) is conventionally followed by an imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive because it compares reality with an imagined version:

• Trata-me como se eu fosse criança. — He/She treats me as if I were a child.
• Saiu como se nada tivesse acontecido. — He/She left as if nothing had happened.

Use the imperfect for a simultaneous state (fosse) and the pluperfect for an earlier completed event (tivesse acontecido).

Sequence of tenses is meaning, not simple backshift

The present-to-past pairing—quero que venhas → queria que viesses—is a strong guide, not a command to shift every verb mechanically. If the dependent event belongs to a genuinely future time viewed from the present, Portuguese may need the future subjunctive instead: Quando vieres, falamos. Advanced choices depend on whether the event is desired, doubted, hypothetical, completed, or expected in the future.

Practice Tips

1. Use the eles preterite as your bridge. Make three-card chains for irregular verbs: tiveram → tive- → tivesse, fizeram → fize- → fizesse, vieram → vie- → viesse. This turns irregularity into a repeatable rule.
2. Build paired sentences. Change present viewpoints into past ones: Espero que venhas → Esperava que viesses. Then make unreal conditions: Não tenho tempo → Se tivesse tempo, estudaria mais.
3. Listen for whole frames. In podcasts or dialogue, note phrases beginning queria que, se eu fosse, como se, and oxalá. Save the whole clause, not only the verb form, so that mood choice becomes automatic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Subjunctive — introduces the subjunctive mood and its main triggers.
• Next step: Pluperfect Subjunctive — expresses hypothetical or dependent actions completed before a past point.
• Advanced connection: Sequence of Tenses — develops the time relationships between main and dependent clauses.