B1 · Subordinate clauses
The personal infinitive
« Before we leave » is one word here — an infinitive with a person on it.
At a glance
- Remember
- The infinitive takes a person and stays an infinitive.
- Form
- antes de (eu) sairbefore I leave
- Signal words
- antes de
- depois de
- para
- por
- sem
- até
- Trap
- Wrong:Antes de fizermos isso.Right:Antes de fazermos isso.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker person ending negation
| before I leave | antes de (eu) sair |
| before you leave | antes de (tu) saíres |
| before he / she leaves, before you leave (você) | antes de (ele, ela, você) sair |
| before we leave | antes de (nós) sairmos |
| before you leave, plural (elevated) | antes de (vós) sairdes |
| before they leave, before you leave (vocês) | antes de (eles, elas, vocês) saírem |
| so that we understand | para percebermos |
| because we have no time | por não termos tempo |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
It stands after a preposition with a subject of its own.
Antes de sairmos, fecha a janela.Before we leave, close the window.
It replaces a clause with que.
Depois de eles chegarem, comemos.After they arrive, we will eat.
The endings are those of the futuro do conjuntivo.
É melhor esperarmos aqui.It is better if we wait here.
With the same subject in the singular it looks like the ordinary infinitive.
Antes de sair, tomo café.Before I leave, I have a coffee.
Example sentences
É difícil chegarmos a horas com este trânsito.It is hard for us to be on time in this traffic.
Saíram sem nos dizerem nada.They left without telling us anything.
Para perceberes melhor, lê isto primeiro.So that you understand better, read this first.
Depois de acabares, avisa-me.When you have finished, let me know.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The form is not the same as the futuro do conjuntivo, even though the endings look alike. With regular verbs they coincide, with irregular ones they do not: antes de fazermos against quando fizermos. The personal infinitive always takes the plain infinitive, the subjunctive its own stem.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The endings are: nothing, -es, nothing, -mos, -des, -em. From sair come sair, saíres, sair, sairmos, sairdes, saírem.
It stands after a preposition when the clause has a subject of its own: antes de sairmos, depois de eles chegarem, para tu perceberes. English can do the first half of this with the -ing form — « before leaving », « after arriving » — but only when the subject is the same as in the main clause. Change the subject and English must open a clause: « before we leave », « after they arrive ».
That is exactly the gap the personal infinitive fills. Without it one would have to build a full clause here too: antes de sairmos instead of antes que saiamos. Both work; the first is shorter and sounds more natural.
If the subject is the same as the main clause and in the first or third person singular, the form looks like an ordinary infinitive — and is one: antes de sair.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: sair · ser · chegar · dizer · fechar · ler · acabar · esperar