How to form and use the future perfect subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese?

The future perfect subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese is a compound tense formed by combining the future subjunctive form of ter(to have) with the past participle of the main verb. It is used to talk about actions that may be completed in the future before another future action.

Much like the future subjunctive, we use the future perfect subjunctive in subordinate clauses within sentences using the imperative, present tense, or future tense. If you already know how to use the future subjunctive, it will be easy to understand how to use the future perfect subjunctive, as they have the same triggers! Are you ready to learn more about this? If so, let’s start!

The future perfect subjunctive is a compound verb tense formed with the auxiliary ter(to have) in the future subjunctive, followed by the past participle of a main verb.

Let’s look a bit more closely at those two pieces.

• The conjugation of the auxiliary verb ter(to have) in the future subjunctive is given in the table below.

  * This is a very formal use of “you” and it is rarely used in Brazilian Portuguese.

  Subject pronoun	ter(to have) (future subjunctive)
  eu(I)	tiver
  tu(you)	tiveres
  você(you, sing.) ele(he, it) ela(she, it)	tiver
  nós(we)	tivermos
  vós*(you, formal)	tiverdes
  vocês(you, pl.) eles, elas(they)	tiverem

• Regular past participles in Brazilian Portuguese end in -ado (for -ar verbs) and -ido (-er and -ir verbs), as in:

  • morar(to live) → morado(lived)

  • aprender(to learn) → aprendido(learned)

  • assistir(to watch) → assistido(watched)

  But some verbs have irregular past participles:

  abrir(to open) → aberto(opened)

  You can check this chart for a quick refresher about regular and irregular past participle verbs in Brazilian Portuguese.

Now it’s time to get to know how we use the future perfect subjunctive in Brazilian Portuguese. Let's go?

The future perfect subjunctive, like other subjunctive tenses, is mostly used in subordinate clauses. For example:

Like the future subjunctive, the future perfect subjunctive is also used for actions that may happen in an uncertain future.

What makes the future perfect subjunctive different is that the future perfect subjunctive is only used if a future action may be finished before another future action. For example:

We use the future perfect subjunctive here because eu tiver terminado a reforma is a hypothetical action expected to be finished before another future action or moment (venha a minha casa). Notice that, in English, the future perfect subjunctive typically translates to the present perfect.

As mentioned above, the future perfect subjunctive has the same triggers as the future subjunctive. It is used:

• After certain conjunctions:

  The future perfect subjunctive often occurs after conjunctions of time like quando(when) and conformative conjunctions like conforme(as).

  • Servirei a sobremesa quando vocês tiverem comido toda a salada.

    I’ll serve the dessert when you have eaten all the salad.

  • Os alunos irão para a outra sala conforme tiverem terminado os testes.

    The students will move to the other room as they finish the tests.

  Some other conjunctions of time that trigger the future subjunctive include:

  • conforme(as)

  • assim que(as soon as)

  • logo que(as soon as)

  • enquanto(while)

• In relative clauses:

  The future perfect subjunctive, like other subjunctive tenses, often occurs in relative clauses after the relative pronoun que. Relative clauses are used to describe a noun in the main clause.

  main clauserelative clause

  Vou querer conversar com alguém que já tiver trabalhado nesta empresa.

  I want to talk to someone who has already worked in this company.

• After relative pronouns and adverbs:

  The future perfect subjunctive often appears after relative pronouns that are the equivalent of the English words “whatever,” “whenever,” “whoever,” or “however.” These are the relative pronouns, which do not vary in gender or number — o que(what), onde(where), or quem(who) — and the relative adverb como(how).

  • O que você tiver falado, ficará em sigilo.

    Whatever you have said, will remain confidential.

  • Onde ela tiver guardado os presentes, estarão seguros.

    Wherever she has kept the gifts, they will be safe.

  • Quem tiver terminado os exercícios, pode ir para casa.

    Whoever has finished the exercises, can go home.

  • Faremos o financiamento como eles tiverem decidido.

    We will do the mortgage however they have decided.

• In “if-clauses”:

  We can also use the future perfect subjunctive in “if-clauses” in order to indicate an action likely to happen in the future if the condition is fulfilled.

  Se você já tiver almoçado , por favor guarde a comida na geladeira.

  If you have already had lunch, please keep the food in the fridge.

  → The outcome por favor guarde a comida na geladeira is likely to happen, but whether it does depends on the completion of a previous action: se você já tiver almoçado.

  The uses of the future perfect subjunctive and the future subjunctive in “if-clauses” are quite similar. However, the future perfect subjunctive only talks about two hypothetical futures in which one happens before the other. In the sentence above, you are first expected to finish the action of having lunch, and after, you'll keep the food in the fridge. In the future subjunctive, instead, you could say:

  future subjunctive

  Se você almoçar, por favor guarde a comida na geladeira.

  If you have lunch, please keep the food in the fridge.

  → You haven't started to have lunch yet, but if it happens, you know that you should keep the food in the fridge.

The future perfect subjunctive and the present perfect subjunctive are both compound subjunctive tenses used to talk about hypothetical completed actions. See the examples below:

• Main clausefuture perfect subjunctive

  Quero preparar o jantar assim que Pedro tiver terminado de limpar a casa.

  I want to cook dinner as soon as Pedro has finished cleaning up the house.

• Main clausepresent perfect subjunctive

  Pedro não foi trabalhar hoje. Espero que ele já tenha terminado de limpar a casa.

  Pedro didn't go to work today. I hope he's already cleaned up the house.

The similarity between the future perfect subjunctive and present perfect subjunctive is that they can be both used after a main clause in the present indicative, future indicative, or imperative. So what's the difference between them?

• The future perfect subjunctive talks about actions that are expected to be completed in the future, before another future action (in the first example, Pedro is expected to have finished cleaning up the house before I prepare the dinner).

• The present perfect subjunctive talks about actions that are expected to be completed before the time of speaking.

In this post, we talked about the form and uses of the future perfect subjunctive. We saw that the future perfect subjunctive…

• is a compound tense formed by the auxiliary verb ter(to have) in the future subjunctive and the past participle of the main verb, as in:

  Quando eu tiver terminado as tarefas, vou almoçar.

  When I have finished my homework, I will eat lunch.

• talks about actions expected to be completed in the future before another future action.

• is used in subordinate clauses and is combined with verbs conjugated in the present or future indicative or the imperative in the main clause.

• has the same future subjunctive triggers and also appears after the conjunctions quando(when), assim que(as soon as), and the conjunction se(if) in “if-clauses.”

I’m guessing that you have found the future perfect subjunctive easier than you thought! Now it's time to practice using and forming the future perfect subjunctive with this activity!