Portuguese uses the Subjunctive mood to indicate something is uncertain to happen or to have occurred. There are 3 different degrees of uncertainty: (1) extremely unlikely, (2) plausible, (3) likely.
The Imperfect Subjunctive is used for case (1): actions that are extremely unlikely to happen or to have happened.
Se eu soubesse que você é vegan, não teria preparado carne. ➜ If I were to know that you're vegan, I wouldn't have prepared meat.
Whenever the sentence conveys: were to something, USE THIS TENSE. And it's easy to hear when someone is using it because you'll hear the pleasant esse or asse attached to the verb. This is an easy conjugation to speak as well since you really only need the eu, você, ele, ela forms and they are all the same!
Goals happen. Semantica: Learning a language never felt so good.
It's all asse or esse!
were to know
eu, você, ele, ela, a gente soub
esse
were to have
eu, você, ele, ela, a gente tiv
esse
were to say
eu, você, ele, ela, a gente fal
asse
The hard part is that you need to remember that these endings get attached to the simple past stem (the first part of the verb). *simple past = preterit indicative
So, for COMER: simple past »: comeu » » comesse
For an irregular verb like SABER it's: simple past »: soube » » soubesse
Forming the Imperfect Subjunctive
-ar imperfect subjunctive regular verbs
I were to say
eu fala
sse
you were to say
você fala
sse
we were to say
nós falá
ssemos
they were to say
eles fala
ssem
-er imperfect subjunctive regular verbs
I were to lose
eu perde
sse
you were to lose
você perde
sse
we were to lose
nós perdê
ssemos
they were to lose
eles perde
ssem
-ir imperfect subjunctive regular verbs
I were to go out
eu saí
sse
you were to go out
você saí
sse
we were to go out
nós saí
ssemos
they were to go out
eles saí
ssem
Examples of the Imperfect Subjunctive
Se eu ganhasse a loteria, compraría um carro novo. ➜ If I were to win the lottery, I would buy a new car.
In this example, it's not clear if it's saying that I didn't win therefore I didn't buy the car or, that if someday I win, I will buy the car. Usually, the context is enough to clarify. But, let's rewrite the sentence it and be crystal clear that we're talking about the past:
Se eu tivesse ganhado a loteria, teria comprado um carro novo. ➜ If I were to have won the lottery, I would have bought a new car.
Amazingly precise!
Can we place the context in the future? Podemos!
Se eu ganhasse a loteria, vou comprar um carro novo. ➜ If I were to win the lottery, I would buy a new car.
By saying vou comprar... it removes all ambiguity. You're speaking about a hypothetical future event. And that's what the Subjunctive Mood is all about. This form, the Imperfect Subjunctive is the most uncertain, most unlikely, most doubtful version of the three forms: the Present Subjunctive, the Future Subjunctive, and this the Imperfect Subjunctive. This one is labled the IMPERFECT subjuntive because it's just that: not very clear if it's talknig about action in the past, presetn or future. Just use it when things are very, very improbable.
You can also use it when telling a story about something in the past that includes something that did not happen. This is pretty confusing! Let's look at an example:
Ela pediu que eu falasse com o gerente. ➜ She asked that I speak with the manager.
Let's stick to some more common examples:
Se ele falasse Português, entenderia o Brasil melhor. ➜ If he were to speak Portuguese, he would understand Brazil better.
Se você estivesse aqui, poderíamos jantar juntos. ➜ If you were (to be) here we could have dinner together.
Se Gisele Bündchen me ligasse hoje, vou atender. ➜ If Gisele Bündchen calls me today, I'll answer the phone.
Ela pediu que eu mudasse pro Jupiter. ➜ She asked me to move to Jupiter.
UNLIKELY EVENTS.
Notice also how in all of these examples, the subjunctive verb is followed up with one in the Conditional tense? That's because this tense is absolutely PERFECT for saying things like, IF such and such were to happen it WOULD BE whatever. This is the classic usage and always triggers this tense!
I remember it like this: IF SOMETHING WERE, THEN SOMETHING WOULD.
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