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Study Resource: Conjugation of ‘ter’ and ‘haver’ in the imperfect subjunctive

By: Ana Amélia Rodrigues dos Santos
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our Brazilian Portuguese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

The Brazilian Portuguese verbs ter and haver both mean “have” and may both be used as the auxiliary verb in the past perfect subjunctive, as long as they are used in their imperfect subjunctive form. However, haver is much more formal.

Conjugation of ‘ter’ in the imperfect subjunctive

Subject Pronouns
ter(to have)

eu(I)

tivesse

tu(you)

tivesses

você(you, sg.)
ele(he, it)
ela(she, it)

tivesse

nós(we)

tivéssemos

vós*(you)

tivésseis

vocês(you, pl.)
eles, elas(they)

tivessem

*This is a very formal form of “you” that is rarely used in Brazilian Portuguese.

Conjugation of ‘haver’ in the imperfect subjunctive

Subject Pronouns
ter(to have)

eu(I)

houvesse

tu(you)

houvesses

você(you, sg.)
ele(he, it)
ela(she, it)

houvesse

nós(we)

houvéssemos

vós*(you)

houvésseis

vocês(you, pl.)
eles, elas(they)

houvessem

*This is a very formal form of “you” that is rarely used in Brazilian Portuguese.

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