Quero Que Você…: Use the Portuguese Subjunctive for Requests and Wishes
Say quero que você venha when you want another person to come; use quero vir when you are the one who wants to come.
Real Life Portuguese · 6 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
After quero que, Portuguese commonly uses the present subjunctive when the person expressing the wish and the person doing the next action are different. The subjunctive marks the action as desired or requested, not as a simple fact. For você, common forms include fale, venha, faça, and esteja.
Use que when the person who wants and the person who acts differ
Compare the subjects: eu quero sair means ‘I want to leave’—the same person wants and leaves. Eu quero que você saia means ‘I want you to leave’—the second clause has a different subject, so the subjunctive appears.
Quero que você conheça meus amigos.
I want you to meet my friends.
Ela quer que a gente chegue cedo.
She wants us to arrive early.
Eles querem que nós façamos uma pausa.
They want us to take a break.
Build a useful request with other verbs of influence
The same pattern appears with requests, suggestions, and preferences: prefiro que você espere (I’d prefer you to wait), peço que vocês leiam (I ask you all to read), sugiro que ela ligue (I suggest that she call). The trigger and a different subject help you predict the form.
Do not put que between the same subject and its infinitive in the simple pattern: quero estudar, not quero que eu estude in an ordinary statement of your own wish. Portuguese has cases where a speaker uses the subjunctive with the same person for emphasis or a different meaning, but the infinitive is the useful default here.
Prefiro que você me avise antes.
I’d prefer you to let me know beforehand.
O gerente pediu que todos esperassem.
The manager asked everyone to wait.
Quero aprender a pronunciar essa palavra.
I want to learn to pronounce that word.
Put it into practice
Use an infinitive when you are the person who wants to do the action (quero sair). With quero que and a different subject, use the subjunctive (quero que você saia).
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “I’d prefer you to let me know beforehand”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
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