In Portuguese, when you want to express strong hopes, courteous wishes, or state that something is necessary, you use set phrases followed by a special verb form called the subjunctive. Instead of learning full conjugation tables, you will learn the most common spoken formulas used every day in Brazil.

In Brazil, 'tomara que' means 'hopefully' or 'I really hope that'. It expresses a strong wish and is always followed by the subjunctive. To say 'hopefully everything works out', say 'Tomara que dê tudo certo', where 'dê' comes from the verb 'dar'. To wish for sunny weather, use 'faça' from 'fazer': 'Tomara que faça sol no sábado' means 'Hopefully it is sunny on Saturday'.

When hoping something unpleasant does not happen, use 'não' right after 'tomara que'. 'Tomara que não chova' means 'Hopefully it does not rain', using 'chova' from the verb 'chover'. If you hope an illness or problem is not serious, say 'Tomara que não seja nada grave', where 'seja' comes from 'ser'.