Olá pessoal!
I'm always at a quandary what tense will I use for "would." Is it Imperfect or Conditional? I see my Brazilian friends use this interchangeably.
For example:
Se eu fosse uma tartarugua, voava!
ou
Se eu fosse uma tartaruga, voaria!
I've read that Imperfect is more informal and so this is more commonly used in daily conversation. Is it true?
Both are gramatically correct according to the "Nova Gámatica do Português Contemporâneo" written by Celso Cunha and Lindley Cintra . The use of the "imperfect" (pretérito imperfeito do indicativo) with a conditional value or as politeness form (e.g Gostava de um copo de água por favor : I would like a glass of water, please) is more often used in Portugal, whereas in Brazil we tend to use the second form. By the way, it's not informal to use the first one instead of the second.
Gramatically correct should be the conditional tense.
Spoken language, people tend to use the imperfect which is weird for foreigners who learn the language. But that doesn't mean that everybody uses the imperfect, sometimes people will mix both.
Olá Arthur. Obrigado.
I wonder if Spanish has this kind as well. When I was learning Spanish, I would always the conditional "gustaria." I'm not sure Imperfect can be used.
Oi Murillo. Obrigado pela explicação.
