O Condicional

The condicional (or futuro do pretérito in Brazilian grammars) is the Portuguese tense of hypothesis, politeness, and future-in-past. It corresponds roughly to English would + verb: I would go, she would say, we would have done.

It has two forms:

1. Simple conditional (eu faria, ela diria) — present or future hypothesis
2. Compound conditional (eu teria feito, ela teria dito) — past hypothesis

The conditional is one of the most regular Portuguese tenses. Only three verbs (fazer, dizer, trazer) have irregular stems; everyone else follows the pattern.

It’s the partner of the imperfeito do conjuntivo in counterfactual constructions. Se eu pudesse, faria isso (If I could, I would do that).

Forms — regular verbs

Take the entire infinitive and add the conditional endings:

The endings: -ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -íeis, -iam. Same for all three conjugation groups.

Important notes

• The accent on the nós and vós forms (-íamos, -íeis) is mandatory.
• The endings are identical to the imperfect of -er and -ir verbs (comia, partia), which is no coincidence: the conditional historically descends from “infinitive + havia” (had to do X).

Irregular verbs

Only three verbs have irregular conditional stems. The endings are still regular.

fazer → far-

dizer → dir-

trazer → trar-

Compounds (compor, propor etc.) follow the irregular pattern of their base verb.

All other verbs — ser, ir, ter, estar, ver, vir, poder, querer, saber, haver — use regular conditional formation. Seria, iria, teria, estaria, veria, viria, poderia, quereria, saberia, haveria.

When to use the simple conditional

1. Hypothesis in the present or future

Se tivesse dinheiro, viajaria. — If I had money, I would travel. Faria tudo por ela. — I would do anything for her.

Paired with se + imperfeito do conjuntivo for the if-clause. The structure is:

Se + [imperfeito do conjuntivo], [conditional].

Se eu fosse rico, compraria uma casa. — If I were rich, I would buy a house. Se ela soubesse, ficaria zangada. — If she knew, she would be angry.

2. Polite request or suggestion

The conditional softens requests. Quero (I want) is direct; queria or gostaria de (I would like) is polite.

Gostaria de um café. — I would like a coffee. Poderia ajudar-me? — Could you help me? Importaria-se de fechar a porta? — Would you mind closing the door?

In speech, the imperfeito (queria, podia) sometimes replaces the conditional for the same softening effect: Queria um café is conversational, Gostaria de um café is more formal.

3. Future in the past (reported speech)

When you report what someone said about the future, the future shifts to conditional:

Direct: Disse: «Irei amanhã.» — He said: “I will go tomorrow.” Reported: Disse que iria no dia seguinte. — He said he would go the next day.

This is the standard tense-shift pattern.

4. Speculation / uncertain probability

Like the futuro simples, the conditional can express probability about the past:

Que horas seriam quando ele chegou? — What time could it have been when he arrived? Estaria a estudar. — He must have been studying.

This use is more common in EP than BP.

When to use the compound conditional

The compound conditional uses ter (in conditional) + past participle.

| eu teria falado | I would have spoken | | tu terias comido | you would have eaten | | ele teria partido | he would have left | | nós teríamos visto | we would have seen | | eles teriam dito | they would have said |

Past unreality (third conditional)

For past hypotheticals — what could have happened but didn’t:

Se tivesse estudado, teria passado o exame. — If I had studied, I would have passed the exam. Teria ido à festa, mas estava cansado. — I would have gone to the party, but I was tired.

The structure: Se + [mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo], [conditional composto].

Se ele tivesse chegado mais cedo, teríamos jantado juntos. — If he had arrived earlier, we would have had dinner together.

This is the third conditional in English terms.

Mesoclisis — pronouns INSIDE the conditional

A famous Portuguese feature: in formal writing, object pronouns can sit inside the future and conditional verbs.

How it works

The conditional is historically built from infinitive + ia. Modern Portuguese still allows the pronoun to slot between these two parts.

Dir-lhe-ia a verdade. — I would tell him the truth. Comprá-lo-ia se pudesse. — I would buy it if I could. Far-me-ia feliz. — It would make me happy.

Notice the structure: verb-stem + hyphen + pronoun + hyphen + ending.

When mesoclisis is used

• Formal writing (legal, academic, literary)
• Literary register (Saramago, Eça de Queirós use it)
• Not in everyday speech or casual writing

In speech and informal writing, you use periphrastic constructions instead:

Formal: Dir-lhe-ia a verdade. Modern: Eu diria a verdade a ele. / Eu dir-lhe-ia (less common)

When NOT to use mesoclisis

Mesoclisis is blocked by the same triggers that block enclisis — não, que, quando, etc. With those, the pronoun goes BEFORE the verb (proclisis):

Não lhe diria a verdade. — I wouldn’t tell him the truth. (não → proclisis) Sei que lhe diria a verdade. — I know I’d tell him the truth. (que → proclisis)

Gostaria de vs. queria — degrees of politeness

Both express “I would like”. Distinguishing them:

• Queria (imperfeito) — conversational, polite
• Gostaria de (conditional) — slightly more formal

Queria um café, por favor. — I’d like a coffee, please. (everyday) Gostaria de marcar uma reunião. — I would like to schedule a meeting. (formal)

Both are correct in their registers.

What you don’t need to do

You don’t need to use mesoclisis in everyday writing. Periphrastic constructions are the norm.

You don’t need to memorise more than three irregular conditionals. Faria, diria, traria and their compounds.

You don’t need to distinguish queria and gostaria de in casual contexts. Both work.

You don’t need separate forms for the future-in-past. It’s just the conditional.

Common confusions

• Conditional pairs with imperfeito do conjuntivo for if-clauses. Se eu fosse rico, compraria, not se eu seria rico, compraria.
• For past hypotheticals, use compound conditional. Teria ido (would have gone), Iria (would go).
• Mesoclisis is formal-only. Dir-lhe-ia is correct but literary; Eu lhe diria (BP) or Diria-lhe (EP) is conversational.
• Three verbs are irregular. Fazer → faria, dizer → diria, trazer → traria. Everything else uses regular formation.
• Endings are the same for all three conjugations. Just add to the full infinitive.

Where you’ll meet it in the library

The conditional is in every Portuguese narrative that explores possibility:

• O Retrato de Dorian Gray (B2+) — Wilde’s hero builds his moral situation around conditionals. Daria a minha alma, teria pedido, faria, seria insuportável.
• O Conde de Monte Cristo (B2+) — Dumas’s hero plots his revenge through conditional structures, including the mesoclitic vingar-me-ia.
• O Estrangeiro (B1+) — Camus’s narrator constructs counterfactuals only to abandon them. Telefonaria, rezaria, suspeitaria. The conditional is the tense of his unrealised emotional life.