O conjuntivo, you fearsome beast

On Thursday night, at the free Portuguese lessons provided by our local council, the teacher has launched us upon o conjuntivo. Oh conjunctive, you fearsome thing; you sound like an eye infection, you slide over the linguistic border into English shape-shifting into the subjunctive or simply vanishing.

Our teacher is good and we understand the broad meaning - present wishes, desires, intentions which may translate into future actions. Here’s three examples: 

  E melhor que consultes um medico. (It would be better if you saw a doctor.) 

  Vá de taxi para que não se atrase. (Take a taxi so you’re not late.) 

  Mesmo que chova, vamos ao futebol. (We’re going to the football even if it rains.)

As you can see, there’s no catch-all structure in English which translates the conjuntivo. 

In unknown territory, and without a map, it's best to stick to the path. Learn the model sentences, learn the phrases that trigger the conjuntivo: hard graft, leg work, repetition. Eventually, with luck, the texture of the conjuntivo will become familiar. 

Two days later the rain eases, the sun comes out, and we transfer our damp washing to the clothes airer in the front yard. Our upstairs neighbour pauses on his way out of the gate: Aproveitam o sol. (You're making the most of the sun.) 

I take a breath and reply, slowly and deliberately, É possível que hoje ainda chova. (It might still rain today.) Textbook stuff. I lean hard on the final 'a' to show it wasn't a misconjugation. 

Our neighbour responds Claro, é possível. Se acontece podem correr e trazer para dentro. (Yes, it might do. Then you can rush out and bring it all in again.) He closes the gate and goes about his business.

At that moment I found the exchange extremely funny; I struggled to keep a straight face. I was exerting all this effort to produce something light and inconsequential. As I spoke my memorised phrase, our neighbour probably heard something predictable and formulaic, just what he would expect in this context, though perhaps with a more formal construction than is usual. He responded in the same light tone. 

I, on the other hand, was hearing my own inner commentary. No, not a commentary but a victory chant Conjuntivo, conjuntivo! You did it, you did it, you did it!