This study deals with the use of alternative structures to hypothetical sentences called eventual (or potential), built, in the subordinate clause, with the conjunction if and with the future subjunctive, and, in the main clause, with the future indicative. Based on concepts of Functionalism and Intercultural Pragmatics and through a questionnaire applied to Portuguese speakers from Rio de Janeiro, the objectives are to build a congruence scale with structures in focus; to verify if the tested alternative structures are, in fact, alternatives; to examine to what extent the factors closeness, intimacy, hierarchy and formality influence the use of the period in question and the tested alternative structures; and to determine in which speech contexts the alternative structures are preferred by speakers of Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro. The results show that the hypothetical sentences is preferred by speakers, although the alternative structures occur most often in contexts of greater intimacy and less formality, distance and hierarchy among the participants. The aim is thus to contribute to the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language, offering a study of different forms of constructions of this sentence, which are widely used by locals.