Hypothetical conditions with se

In brief

Use se (‘if’) to imagine a situation that is not true now or is unlikely to happen. In Brazilian Portuguese, the imagined condition takes the imperfect subjunctive; the result commonly takes the conditional. This is similar in meaning to English ‘If I had more time, I would travel.’

Form

Se + imperfect subjunctive, + conditional (futuro do pretérito): Se eu tivesse tempo, viajaria. The result can also come first: Eu viajaria se tivesse tempo.

Usage

• Describe what you would do under an imagined condition.
• Ask someone what they would do if circumstances were different.
• Put the condition first or the result first without changing the meaning.

Examples

• Se eu tivesse mais tempo, viajaria pelo Brasil. — If I had more time, I would travel around Brazil.
• Se você pudesse trabalhar de casa, aceitaria o emprego? — If you could work from home, would you take the job?
• Faríamos um churrasco no sábado se não chovesse. — We would have a barbecue on Saturday if it didn’t rain.

Common mistake

❌ Se eu teria mais tempo, viajaria mais.

✅ Se eu tivesse mais tempo, viajaria mais.

For an imagined condition, use the imperfect subjunctive after se (tivesse), not the conditional (teria). The conditional belongs in the result clause.

Remember

After se in this pattern, use the imperfect subjunctive; use the conditional for the imagined result.