Future conditions in Brazilian Portuguese: se der, se tiver and quando chegar

Level B1

Future conditions in Brazilian Portuguese: se der, se tiver and quando chegar

You want to study with a friend tomorrow, but another commitment may get in the way. Link your plan to a possible condition with se, or to an expected moment with quando. Learn just der, tiver and chegar in these future situations, rather than a whole set of conjugations.

Start with a plan

Vou trabalhar amanhã means “I’m going to work tomorrow”: vou + an infinitive gives the plan, and amanhã means tomorrow. Vou already identifies the speaker, so eu (I) can be omitted. A plan can need an alternative, just as dá para…? asks whether something is practically possible when arranging an appointment. Here you will say what the plan depends on; this is different from giving its reason with porque (because).

Words for a plan that may change

Estudar is study, ligar is make a phone call, com você is with you, and em casa is at home. Chegar means arrive at a destination, not leave for it. Uma consulta is a medical appointment: uma introduces it, and ter uma consulta means have such an appointment as an event in your schedule. Dá para expresses practical possibility; the same impersonal use of dar appears in se der, “if it works out / if circumstances allow”. It does not mean giving an object.

Two friends leave room for a change

Ana and Leo are arranging to study together tomorrow. Ana may have a medical appointment that has not yet been confirmed. Listen to the four turns: Ana gives a conditional plan, Leo names the expected arrival, Ana promises a call if she has the appointment, and Leo gives an alternative. Neither person says that the appointment is certain or that the shared study session is guaranteed.

A possible condition: se der, se tiver

Vou estudar com você se der means “I’ll study with you if it works out”: se introduces the condition, and der is the impersonal form of dar used here for future possibility. In Se eu tiver uma consulta, vou ligar, tiver is the form of ter used for a possible future appointment, and the speaker will call if that condition is met. These are future subjunctive forms; English uses ordinary present forms in “if it works out” and “if I have”, so do not translate those forms mechanically. Learn the two Portuguese combinations as shown, without a full paradigm. The condition can follow the plan or come first with a comma; se não der means “if it doesn’t work out”, with não before der.

vou + infinitivo se der / eu tiver…

An expected moment: quando chegar

Quando eu chegar, vou ligar means “When I arrive, I’ll call”: the arrival provides the moment for the call. Here chegar is a future subjunctive form, even though it is written like the infinitive; its use after quando in this future context is different from the infinitive after vou. In Quando você chegar, vou estudar com você, você is the person arriving, while the speaker is the one who will study. Eu chegar and você chegar have the same verb form in these examples. Se leaves a condition open; quando presents the arrival as an expected event, without guaranteeing that it will occur.

Quando eu / você chegar, vou + infinitivo

Your turn: send a new message

You are returning to town tomorrow and hope to study with a friend. Before playing the examples, write a short connected message: say that you will study together if circumstances allow, promise a call when you arrive, and explain that if it does not work out you will study at home. Use only the words already shown; the three sentences below give one possible answer in that order. Then change just the arrival: tell your friend “When you arrive, I’ll study with you”, using the arrival example above. Check whether your message makes clear which part is the plan, which part is uncertain and who arrives.

Keep the plan and its limit clear

Use vou + infinitive for your plan, se der or se eu tiver… for a possible future condition, and quando eu/você chegar for the expected moment. For example, Vou estudar com você se der is a conditional commitment, not an unconditional promise. The forms here are enough for this task; other uses of se and other subjunctive forms can wait. Listen again to the message and say what changes if the appointment is confirmed.

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