Present Subjunctive in Portuguese

In Brief

The Portuguese present subjunctive (presente do conjuntivo in Portugal and often presente do subjuntivo in Brazil) presents an action not as a plain fact, but as wanted, doubted, felt, judged or required: Quero que venhas (“I want you to come”). Regular -ar verbs use endings with e, while -er and -ir verbs use endings with a: falar → fale; comer → coma; partir → parta.

Overview

The subjunctive is a verb mood: a set of verb forms that shows how the speaker views an action. The indicative mood presents information as a fact or straightforward claim—Ele está em casa (“He is at home”)—whereas the subjunctive often places that action inside someone’s wish, doubt, emotional reaction or judgment—Espero que ele esteja em casa (“I hope he is at home”). English sometimes has a visible subjunctive, as in “It is important that he be here,” but more often its form looks like an ordinary present tense. Portuguese marks the distinction much more consistently.

At B1, the most useful pattern is main clause + que + subjunctive clause. A clause is simply a group of words containing a verb: in Quero que venhas, quero belongs to the main clause and que venhas to the dependent clause. The subjects are normally different: “I” do the wanting, while “you” do the coming.

Learning the endings is only half the task. You must also decide whether a sentence presents something as asserted or as non-factual, desired or evaluated. This article focuses on the forms and their central uses; the exact range of expressions that trigger them is developed further under Subjunctive Triggers.

How It Works

Regular formation

For a regular verb, start from its stem and use the endings below. A practical memory aid is that the theme vowel switches: -ar verbs take e, while -er/-ir verbs take a.

Person	falar (to speak)	comer (to eat)	partir (to leave)
eu	fale	coma	parta
tu	fales	comas	partas
ele/ela/você	fale	coma	parta
nós	falemos	comamos	partamos
vós	faleis	comais	partais
eles/elas/vocês	falem	comam	partam

The endings are therefore:

Verb class	eu	tu	ele/ela/você	nós	vós	eles/elas/vocês
-ar	-e	-es	-e	-emos	-eis	-em
-er / -ir	-a	-as	-a	-amos	-ais	-am

Subject pronouns are often omitted because the ending and context identify the subject: Espero que cheguem cedo can mean “I hope they arrive early” or “I hope you all arrive early,” depending on context. Vós forms are rare in everyday modern Portuguese, though they remain useful for recognition in religious, literary and some regional language.

Using the present-tense eu form

For many verbs, a reliable method is to take the present indicative eu form, remove final -o, and add the subjunctive endings:

• faço → faça, faças, faça… (fazer)
• conheço → conheça, conheças, conheça… (conhecer)
• peço → peça, peças, peça… (pedir)
• durmo → durma, durmas, durma… (dormir)

This method carries many stem changes into the subjunctive. It is a useful pattern, not an absolute rule: highly irregular verbs such as ser, estar, ir, dar and haver must be learned separately.

Spelling changes

Portuguese spelling may change to preserve the sound of the infinitive stem:

Infinitive	Present subjunctive	What the spelling preserves
ficar	fique	hard /k/ sound
pagar	pague	hard /g/ sound
começar	comece	soft sound of ç before a
conhecer	conheça	the stem sound before an a ending
proteger	proteja	the soft sound of g

These are spelling adjustments, not extra subjunctive meanings.

Essential irregular verbs

Person	ser	estar	ir	ter	vir	dar	saber
eu	seja	esteja	vá	tenha	venha	dê	saiba
tu	sejas	estejas	vás	tenhas	venhas	dês	saibas
ele/ela/você	seja	esteja	vá	tenha	venha	dê	saiba
nós	sejamos	estejamos	vamos	tenhamos	venhamos	demos	saibamos
vós	sejais	estejais	vades	tenhais	venhais	deis	saibais
eles/elas/vocês	sejam	estejam	vão	tenham	venham	deem	saibam

Notice that vamos and demos can look identical to other common forms; context supplies the meaning. Under current Portuguese spelling, third-person plural deem has no circumflex.

The core sentence patterns

The present subjunctive commonly follows expressions of:

• wish or influence: Quero que…, Prefiro que…, Peço que…
• hope and emotion: Espero que…, Fico contente que…, Lamento que…
• doubt or denial: Duvido que…, Não acredito que…
• necessity or evaluation: É preciso que…, É importante que…, É melhor que…
• possibility: É possível que…, Talvez…

With two different subjects, Portuguese usually uses que plus a finite verb (a verb marked for person):

• Quero sair. — I want to leave. Same subject: I want, and I leave.
• Quero que saias. — I want you to leave. Different subjects: I want, but you leave.

Do not treat que alone as a subjunctive signal. Compare Sei que ele vem (“I know he is coming”), where the speaker asserts the information, with Duvido que ele venha (“I doubt he is coming”), where it is questioned.

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Quero que venhas.	I want you to come.	Wish; European-style tu form
Espero que estejas bem.	I hope you’re well.	Hope about another person
É importante que estudes.	It’s important that you study.	Evaluation and tu form
Duvido que seja verdade.	I doubt it’s true.	Doubt; irregular ser
A professora pede que falemos devagar.	The teacher asks us to speak slowly.	Request; first-person plural
É possível que eles cheguem amanhã.	They may arrive tomorrow.	Possibility, not a firm prediction
Talvez a Ana saiba a resposta.	Ana may know the answer.	Talvez commonly takes the subjunctive when uncertainty remains
Fico contente que vocês estejam aqui.	I’m glad you’re here.	Emotion; plural vocês
Não acredito que ele tenha razão.	I don’t believe he is right.	Negative belief questions the claim
Precisamos de alguém que fale japonês.	We need someone who speaks Japanese.	The person is not yet identified
Não há nada que possamos fazer.	There is nothing we can do.	Nonexistent or unavailable option
Embora esteja cansada, ela continua a trabalhar.	Although she is tired, she keeps working.	Concession with embora
Fecho a janela para que não entre frio.	I’m closing the window so that cold air doesn’t come in.	Purpose with para que
Que tenhas um bom dia!	Have a good day!	Independent wish
Não façam barulho.	Don’t make noise.	Negative command to several people

Common Mistakes

Using the indicative after a wish

• Wrong: Quero que tu vens amanhã.
• Right: Quero que tu venhas amanhã.
• Why: The coming is desired, not asserted as a fact, so querer que takes the subjunctive.

Copying the infinitive stem mechanically

• Wrong: Espero que ele faz isso.
• Right: Espero que ele faça isso.
• Why: Fazer follows its eu stem faç- in the present subjunctive: faça, faças, façamos, façam.

Using que when both verbs have the same subject

• Awkward/wrong: Eu quero que eu saia agora.
• Natural: Eu quero sair agora.
• Why: When the person who wants and the person who leaves are the same, Portuguese normally uses the infinitive. Repeating eu may be possible in a strongly contrastive context, but it is not the neutral pattern.

Assuming every clause with que needs the subjunctive

• Wrong: Sei que ela esteja em casa.
• Right: Sei que ela está em casa.
• Why: Saber que normally introduces information treated as fact, so it takes the indicative. The meaning of the main expression—not que itself—controls the mood.

Confusing present and future subjunctive

• Wrong: Quando ele venha amanhã, falamos.
• Right: Quando ele vier amanhã, falamos.
• Why: An uncertain event located in the future after quando normally uses the future subjunctive. The present subjunctive is not a general-purpose replacement for every uncertain future event.

Mixing address forms

• Wrong: Espero que você estejas bem.
• Right: Espero que você esteja bem.
• Also right: Espero que tu estejas bem.
• Why: Você takes a third-person singular verb, while tu takes the second-person singular form in the standard paradigm.

Usage Notes

Both conjuntivo and subjuntivo name the same mood. Conjuntivo is the usual term in Portugal; subjuntivo is widely used in Brazil. The grammar itself is shared, but pronoun preferences affect which forms learners hear most. European Portuguese commonly uses tu and therefore forms such as venhas and estejas. Much of Brazil uses você, with venha and esteja; regional Brazilian speech may also use tu, sometimes with standard tu agreement and sometimes with third-person forms. In careful learning, keep one pronoun-and-ending pattern consistent.

The subjunctive does not simply mean “uncertain.” A speaker can be certain of a fact and still use the subjunctive because that fact sits inside an emotional evaluation: Lamento que estejas doente (“I’m sorry that you’re ill”). Conversely, a question does not automatically require it: Sabes onde ele está? uses the indicative.

Affirmative belief tends to use the indicative: Acho que ele está ocupado (“I think he is busy”). Negation often opens the claim to doubt and favors the subjunctive: Não acho que ele esteja ocupado. Context can change the choice. An indicative after a negative expression may deliberately assert the embedded fact rather than question it, especially in nuanced or conversational usage.

After talvez, the subjunctive is the safest standard choice when the possibility is genuinely open: Talvez chova. In natural speech, mood choice can reflect how strongly the speaker commits to the statement, so authentic usage is not always reducible to one trigger list.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Unknown versus identified people and things

A relative clause describes a noun, such as “the person who speaks Japanese.” Use the subjunctive when the person or thing is sought, hypothetical, nonexistent or not yet identified:

• Procuro um apartamento que tenha varanda. — I’m looking for an apartment that has a balcony; no particular apartment has been identified.
• Conheço um apartamento que tem varanda. — I know an apartment that has a balcony; it is a specific, known apartment.

The article (um, o) does not decide the mood by itself. What matters is whether the speaker presents the referent—the person or thing being described—as established.

Conjunctions and time reference

Expressions such as embora (“although”), antes que (“before”) and para que (“so that”) commonly introduce the subjunctive. However, Portuguese has several subjunctive tenses, and the appropriate tense depends on time and viewpoint:

Meaning	Typical form	Example
Current or forward-looking wish/evaluation	present subjunctive	Espero que venhas.
Event completed before the present viewpoint	perfect subjunctive	Espero que tenhas chegado.
Hypothetical or past-framed situation	imperfect subjunctive	Queria que viesses.
Uncertain future after quando, se, etc.	future subjunctive	Quando vieres, avisa.

English often uses one ordinary-looking form in all these environments, so English-speaking learners can miss distinctions that Portuguese verb endings make explicit.

Commands and wishes

Present subjunctive forms also supply most command forms outside affirmative tu and vós commands. This is especially visible in negative commands: Não fales tão depressa (“Don’t speak so fast”), Não se esqueça (“Don’t forget,” addressing você), and Não façam isso (“Don’t do that,” addressing vocês). Independent clauses beginning with que can express wishes: Que tudo corra bem! (“May everything go well!”).

Mood choice conveys stance

At higher levels, indicative versus subjunctive can reveal the speaker’s stance rather than merely obeying a fixed formula. Compare Embora é difícil…—heard in some informal usage but rejected by many careful standards—with standard Embora seja difícil…. In edited writing and formal speech, established conjunction patterns are expected. Learn the standard choice first; then observe variation without assuming every conversational form belongs in formal writing.

Practice Tips

1. Build forms in families. Each day, conjugate one regular verb and one common irregular verb through eu, tu, ele/ela/você, nós, and eles/elas/vocês. Say a short trigger before every form: Espero que eu fale…; espero que tu fales….
2. Train contrasts, not isolated endings. Make pairs such as Sei que ele está / Duvido que ele esteja and Quero sair / Quero que saias. This connects the form to the speaker’s meaning.
3. Mark the subject and time. Before completing a sentence, ask: Who performs each verb? Is the event presented as fact, wish, doubt or evaluation? Is it present/current, completed, past-framed or future after quando/se? Those questions prevent both mood and tense errors.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -AR Verbs — provides the basic idea of Portuguese stems, endings and person agreement.
• Next step: Subjunctive Triggers — develops the expressions and conjunctions that select a subjunctive mood.
• Next step: Imperfect Subjunctive — handles past-framed wishes, hypotheticals and sequence of tenses.
• Next step: Future Subjunctive — covers uncertain future events after expressions such as quando and se.
• Next step: Perfect Subjunctive — expresses completed actions inside present subjunctive contexts.