Literary tenses: fizera, quisera, the future of conjecture
Literary Portuguese keeps forms that speech has lost: the simple pluperfect (fizera, dissera), its use as a wish or conditional (quisera, fora), and the future and conditional of conjecture (Onde estará? Onde estaria?).
| form | example | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| simple pluperfect | Ele dissera a verdade. | He had told the truth. |
| pluperfect as wish | Quisera eu ter tempo! | If only I had time! |
| pluperfect as conditional | Mais valera ter ficado. | It would have been better to stay. |
| future of conjecture | Que horas serão? | I wonder what time it is. |
| conditional of conjecture (past) | Onde estaria ele ontem? | Where could he have been yesterday? |
| historical present | Em 1500, Cabral chega ao Brasil. | In 1500 Cabral arrives in Brazil. |
Points to watch
- The simple pluperfect is built on the preterite stem: disseram → dissera, fizeram → fizera; the nós-form takes an accent: fizéramos.
- It still means “had done”, so it needs an earlier past reference point.
- Fixed phrases survive in speech: Quem me dera!, Pudera! (No wonder!), Tomara!
- For a guess about the past, use the conditional (estaria) or terá + participle, not the future.
Examples
- Ela chorou, porque nunca vira o mar.She cried because she had never seen the sea.
- Quisera eu saber a resposta!If only I knew the answer!
- Ele chegou atrasado. – Pudera, com esse trânsito!He arrived late. – No wonder, with this traffic!
- Quem será aquela mulher?Who could that woman be?
- Que idade teria ela na época?How old might she have been at the time?
Common mistakes
- ✗ Ele dizera que voltaria.✓ Ele dissera que voltaria.The simple pluperfect comes from the preterite stem disse-, not from the infinitive, so the form is dissera.
- ✗ Nós fizeramos tudo antes.✓ Nós fizéramos tudo antes.The nós-form of the simple pluperfect carries an accent, fizéramos, because the stress falls three syllables from the end.
- ✗ Ontem eu fizera o jantar.✓ Ontem eu fiz o jantar.The pluperfect means “had done” and needs an earlier past point; a simple event yesterday takes the preterite.
- ✗ Onde estará ele ontem à noite?✓ Onde estaria ele ontem à noite?A guess about the past uses the conditional estaria; the future of conjecture refers to the present.
- ✗ Mal chegou, começara a chover.✓ Mal chegara, começou a chover.The earlier action takes the pluperfect: he had barely arrived when it started; swapping the tenses reverses the order of events.