Forneçais

Forneçais is a verb form in the Portuguese language. It represents the second-person plural present subjunctive of the verb fornecer, which means to supply or provide. In standard usage, forneçais appears in subordinate clauses that express possibility, necessity, doubt, desire, or obligation, typically after expressions like é essencial que or é importante que. The form is most commonly associated with European Portuguese and with traditional or formal registers; in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, the corresponding form with the pronoun vocês is forneçam.

Etymology and morphology: forneçais derives from the verb fornecer, itself originating in Latin and evolving through Old Portuguese. The present-subjunctive ending for the 2nd person plural is -çais, yielding forneçais. The pronunciation and spelling reflect the historical presence of the c-cedilla combination before the -ais ending.

Usage notes: In contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, speakers often use the 3rd-person plural present-subjunctive forneçam in conjunction with vocês (que eles forneçam/que vocês forneçam), making forneçais rare outside formal or literary contexts. In Portugal and other European varieties, forneçais can appear in formal writing or regional speech that preserves the vós form; it is less common in informal speech.

Examples:

- É essencial que forneçais os documentos até amanhã.

- Que vós forneçais as informações solicitadas, para que possamos proceder.

Related forms include the infinitive fornecer, the present indicative forneço/forneces, and other subjunctive forms such as forneçam (3rd person plural or formal you all). The form forneçais serves as a grammatical marker of historical pronoun usage and formal style within the Portuguese concordance system.