Portuguese 6.4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense

In Portuguese, the pluperfect subjunctive tense is formed as follows:

“Ter” or “Haver” in the imperfect subjunctive + past participle

The verb “ter” in the imperfect subjunctive tense is conjugated as follows:

		-ar ending e.g., falar	-er ending e.g., comer	-ir ending e.g., partir
eu	tivesse	falado	comido	partido
ele/ela/você	tivesse
nós	tivéssemos
eles/elas/vocês	tivessem

The pluperfect in the subjunctive mood has different uses than the pluperfect in the indicative mood, studied earlier. It is mostly used to describe an event that already happened in the past, but we wish it did not happen or happened differently, or we want to discuss what would happen if we hypothetically changed that past event.

We will discuss two examples in which the pluperfect subjunctive tense is used in Portuguese:

Case #1

The pluperfect subjunctive is used to express wishes that are impossible to change the past. Therefore, any wish to even hypothetically talk about such a change must be expressed in the pluperfect subjunctive. For example:

Gostaria que eu tivesse estudado medicina.	I wish I had studied medicine.
Gostaria que meu avô não tivesse morrido.	I wish my grandfather hadn’t died.

It can also be used in conditional statements to convey the above meaning of the impossible past, for example:

Se eu tivesse estudado medicina, …	If I had studied medicine, …
Se meu avô não tivesse morrido, …	If my grandfather hadn’t died, …

The conditional statements above are usually followed by

• a verb in simple conditional, or
• “would have” + past participle

Se eu tivesse estudado medicina, estaria rico hoje.	If I had studied medicine, I would be rich today.
Se meu avô não tivesse morrido, eu teria passado um tempo com ele.	If my grandfather hadn’t died, I would have spent time with him.

Another way to describe a hypothetical or impossible past is using the expression “como se,” translated as “as if,” for example:

Ele fala como se tivesse estudado medicina.	He talks as if he had studied medicine.
Ele chorou como se seu avô tivesse morrido.	He cried as if his grandfather had died.

Case #2

One use of the pluperfect in the subjunctive is similar to that in the indicative mood. As studied earlier, the pluperfect in the indicative mood is used to describe the past before the simple past. If doubt or hope is added to the action described in the pluperfect, the subjunctive mood should be used. Let us look at the following examples for comparison:

a) Pluperfect in the indicative mood:

Antes de nos conhecermos, você tinha ido na Espanha.	Before we met, you had been to Spain.
Quando fui visitar minha mãe, minha irmã já tinha chegado.	When I visited my mom, my sister had already arrived.

b) Pluperfect in the subjunctive mood:

Antes de nos conhecermos, fiquei encantado que você já tivesso ido na Espanha.	Before we met, I was delighted that you had already been to Spain.
Quando visitei minha mãe, duvidei que minha irmã já tivesse chegado.	When I visited my mom, I doubted that my sister had already arrived.

Next: “Although” & “Despite”

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