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Study Resource: Conjunctions that trigger the imperfect subjunctive

By: Fabiana Dametto Oliveira

The following conjunctions are often used before the imperfect subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese.


Type	Conjunction	Example
Concession	ainda que Translation: even if/even though	Ainda que eu soubesse a verdade, não poderia te contar o que aconteceu naquele dia. Translation: Even if I knew the truth, I couldn’t tell you what happened that day.
	embora Translation: although	Embora elas morassem em cidades diferentes, se falavam todos os dias por telefone. Translation: Although they lived in different cities, they spoke every day on the phone.
	mesmo que Translation: even though	Mesmo que você saísse de casa agora, não chegaria lá às 8 horas. Translation: Even if you left the house now, you wouldn’t be there at 8 o’clock.
Condition	caso Translation: in case	Caso a entrega chegasse, eu poderia recebê-la. Translation: In case the delivery arrived, I could receive it.
	a não ser que Translation: unless	A não ser que eles falassem baixo, precisavam sair da sala. Translation: Unless they kept their voices down, they needed to leave the room.
	desde que Translation: as long as	Eu iria à praia desde que fizesse sol. Translation: I would go to the beach as long as it was sunny.
Purpose	a fim de que Translation: in order to	Eles chegaram mais cedo a fim de que sentassem em um bom lugar. Translation: They arrived early so they could get a good seat.
Purpose	para que Translation: in order to / to	Nós paramos de falar para que ele não pensasse que estávamos falando dele. Translation: We stopped talking so he wouldn’t think we were talking about him.
Time	antes que Translation: before	Eles pararam no posto antes que a gasolina acabasse. Translation: They stopped at the gas station before they ran out of gas.
Time	até que Translation: until	Ela estudou muito até que passasse em todos os testes. Translation: She studied hard until she passed all the tests.