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= Variation between the conditional and the imperfect = In certain contexts in which the conditional mood (abbreviated COND) is used, there is variation between the conditional and other tenses in some languages, such as the imperfect of the indicative (abbreviated IMPERF). Languages which allow for this variation vary with respect to the contexts in which the variation is possible.

Portuguese
Both European Portuguese (EP) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP) allow for some variation between the conditional and the imperfect. However, this variation is much more common in European Portuguese than in Brazilian Portuguese. This variation has been attributed to the fact that that the endings of the conditional mood in Romance languages, and in Portuguese in specific, are very similar to the endings of the imperfect:


 * fala ria /fala va  ('I would speak')
 * come ria /com ia  ('I would eat')
 * segui ria /segu ia  ('I would follow')

The endings of the imperfect are shorter than the endings of the conditional, which makes it simpler to use, and there are semantic similarities between the two. Furthermore, there is a phonological process in Portuguese which causes unstressed vowels to change in quality, to a generally weakened form, which in this context can promote the deletion of the -ar, -er and -ir sounds of the conditional forms.

Independent conditional sentences
Independent conditional sentences are sentences in which only the main clause is explicitly expressed; the dependent clause, in which the condition upon which the validity of the main clause is dependent, is implicit in the sentence. Only European Portuguese allows the use of the imperfect in this context; it is unattested in Brazilian Portuguese.


 * Eu gostaria de visitar o Porto ( COND ) 'I would like to visit Oporto'
 * Eu gostava de visitar o Porto ( IMPERF ) 'I would like to visit Oporto'

In these cases the implicit condition is something along the lines of "if I could" or "if I had the chance". Both uses are grammatical in PE, with the conditional being more frequent in written use and the imperfect in oral use. The level of formality of the context or the degree of politeness used by the speaker can also influence the choice of tense, with formal and/or polite contexts favouring the use of the conditional, and informal and/or less polite or impolite contexts favouring the imperfect.

Contrafactual sentences
Variation between the conditional and the imperfect is allowed in contrafactual sentences in both European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese:


 * Se tivesse fome, iria ao restaurante ( COND ) 'If I was hungry, I would go to a restaurant'
 * Se tivesse fome, ia ao restaurante ( IMPERF )   'If I was hungry, I would go to a restaurant

As for independent conditional sentences, the use of the imperfect is more frequent in oral and informal uses. Prescriptively, it is disallowed in Brazilian Portuguese for the written use.

Polite requests
Polite requests in Portuguese can be realised using the auxiliary verb poder ('to be able to', 'can', 'may') and the infinitive of the main verb. Variation between the conditional and the imperfect in this context is allowed in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.


 * Poderia trazer-me o menu? ( COND ) 'Could you bring me the menu?'
 * Podia trazer-me o menu? ( IMPERF ) 'Could you bring me the menu?'

The use of the conditional is more polite than the use of the imperfect, with the latter being more common in oral speech.