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Subjunctive range

How far the subjunctive reaches before the indicative takes over. The future subjunctive is the part your Spanish cannot help with.

Portuguese · Grammar · GRM-06

The control text · argumentative

Proibir o celular nas escolas parece uma medida drástica, mas os resultados sugerem que ela funciona. Nas redes que adotaram a restrição, os professores relatam menos interrupções e uma queda nos casos de intimidação online. É verdade que o aparelho também é ferramenta de estudo, e seria ingênuo ignorar isso. Ainda assim, o custo da distração recai sobre quem já tem menos apoio em casa. Enquanto não houver evidência de que o uso livre melhora a aprendizagem, o ônus da prova cabe a quem defende a permissão.

Every option below rewrites this text.

Where the two part

Brazilian · the base

The future subjunctive is robust and obligatory. The present subjunctive erodes in speech after verbs of opinion, but the norma culta keeps it.

European · the contrast

Broadly the same system with less erosion in speech, and the imperfect subjunctive appears more readily in ordinary conversation.

10 options

GRM-06a

Future subjunctive after se

Both

Se não houver retorno até sexta-feira, vou registrar uma reclamação.

The tellSe plus a form that looks like an infinitive but is not.

Gains

Anchor A contains this. Spanish offers the present indicative here every single time, so getting it right is the highest-yield habit on the sheet.

Costs

For regular verbs it is identical to the personal infinitive, which makes it invisible until an irregular verb appears.

GRM-06b

Future subjunctive after quando

Both

Quando receberem o comprovante, encerrem a assinatura.

The tellFuture reference after quando takes the subjunctive, not the future indicative.

Gains

Extremely frequent, and the error is one an examiner will notice at once.

Costs

English and Spanish both use a present or future here, so two of your languages push the same wrong way.

GRM-06c

Future subjunctive after enquanto

Both

Enquanto não houver evidência, o ônus da prova cabe a quem defende.

The tellAnchor B closes on exactly this construction.

Gains

It gives an argument a conditional spine without hedging, which is precisely what a C2 script wants.

Costs

Its scope is easy to lose in a long sentence, and it demands the reader hold the condition open.

GRM-06d

Present subjunctive after a wish or request

Both

BR Peço que devolvam o valor.

EU Solicito que devolvam o montante.

The tellque plus a verb with the opposite vowel to the indicative.

Gains

Transfers directly from Spanish, so it is the cheapest subjunctive you have.

Costs

Almost none — which makes it a poor place to spend study time.

GRM-06e

Present subjunctive after doubt

Both

Duvido que tenham registrado o cancelamento.

The tellVerbs of doubt and denial take the subjunctive; verbs of assertion do not.

Gains

The line is the same as in Spanish, so the whole distinction comes free.

Costs

Brazilian speech blurs it after achar, so the spoken and written norms diverge here.

GRM-06f

Indicative after achar que

Brazilian

Acho que é cobrança indevida. — not seja

The tellA verb of opinion followed by the indicative.

Gains

What Brazilians actually say, and the subjunctive here would sound over-corrected in speech.

Costs

In formal writing the subjunctive is expected after some of these verbs, so the choice is register-bound rather than free.

GRM-06g

Imperfect subjunctive in a hypothetical

Both

Se soubesse disso em maio, teria cancelado o cartão.

The tell-sse endings, paired with a conditional in the other clause.

Gains

The standard counterfactual, identical in shape to Spanish, and it is where the conditional earns its keep.

Costs

Brazilian speech often replaces the conditional half with an imperfect, which makes the written pairing feel formal.

GRM-06h

Imperfect subjunctive as politeness

Both

BR Queria pedir o estorno. · Se pudesse verificar…

EU Queria pedir o reembolso.

The tellA past-tense form used for a present request.

Gains

The single most efficient softener in the language, and it costs one word.

Costs

Used repeatedly it reads as timid, which in a complaint undercuts you.

GRM-06i

Compound subjunctive

Both

Ainda que tenham cancelado a assinatura, a cobrança persistiu.

The telltenha or tivesse plus a participle inside a subordinate clause.

Gains

Places one event before another inside a concession, which is a genuinely advanced move.

Costs

Long, and in speech it is usually replaced by something simpler, so it belongs to writing.

GRM-06j

Subjunctive avoided by restructuring

Both

BR Peço o estorno do valor.

EU Solicito o reembolso do montante.

The tellA noun where a clause would have been, so no mood decision arises.

Gains

Often more formal and shorter than the clause it replaces, and always correct.

Costs

In an exam that is testing the subjunctive, systematic avoidance is itself visible.