Imperfect Subjunctive Puns

I am familiar with the imperfect subjunctive in conditional sentences and requests/wishes, but I often see it used in other cases, and it is very confusing for me. When exactly do we use the imperfect subjunctive and why? A lot of the resources I’ve found have been very surface level only explaining the simple cases, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks

So, I thought that the subjunctive imperfect was just past subjunctive, but if I go ahead and translate something like: I'm happy he did that. It gives me this: Me alegro de que lo haya hecho.

Why haya and not Me alegro de que lo hiciera. ?

I'm a bit confused on the best way to express past tense subjunctive situations. For example:

Es extraño que lo haya hecho (present perfect subjunctive)

Es extraño que lo hiciera (imperfect subjunctive)

Creen que un ejemplo sea mejor que el otro? Gracias por su ayuda.

I'll cut right to the chase. I cannot for the life of my figure out why this sentence, translated, should be in the present perfect subjunctive and not the imperfect subjunctive:

"I hope that you slept well".

The supposed correct translation is: "Espero que hayas dormido bien"

I understand that, like basically all subjunctive moods/tenses, it can be used to express uncertainty, since you don't know whether they slept well or not. Great.

But why can't I use the imperfect subjunctive and translate it as:

"Espero que durmieras bien."

In all of the examples explaining the present perfect subjunctive, they are always translating sentences that follow the same construction in English, for example: "I hope you have enjoyed the day". In which case it seems more obvious. Saying "have enjoyed" may be similar to simply "enjoyed" but it's not the same.

Maybe the answer is that either are fine, in which case that would be a huge relief for me. May using Google translate isn't a good source, but confusingly, Google will translate some things in this identical construction with the Present Perfect Subjunctive and some with the Imperfect Subjunctive.

As far as I can tell, the only difference is that it will choose the imperfect subjunctive when a reflexive verb is used.

For example, if you translate "I hope that you stopped," it chooses to use the verb detenerse and uses the imperfect subjunctive like so:

"Espero que te detuvieras"

The arbitrary nature of this makes me think that both are acceptable and I'm overthinking it. Maybe it would just be too clunky with reflexive verbs and chooses not to through haber into the mix. Although I'd argue it's clunky even without a reflexive verb...

Anyway, if someone has any answers, I'd love to hear them. I've done a bit of Googling on the matter and the results I've found have been frustratingly unhelpful.

I know how to use the imperfect subjunctive when it's applied in the same context as in English (like saying "If I were" to do something), but I'm learning that it has uses in Spanish that don't come up in English. A couple of examples:

1. A really cool song that's become popular recently called "Nuestra Canción" has a line that uses it when I wouldn't have expected it:

>Nos entregamos, aunque muchos se opusieran

I assume that the meaning is somewhere along the lines of "although many may oppose it", but why does it use the imperfect instead of just the regular subjunctive there?

2. Here's another recent example: translating the sentence "my mom told me to use it." From my research, it seems that that should be translated to "mi mamá me dijo que lo usara." I understand why saying you want someone to do something in the present tense triggers the standard subjunctive, but how come this similar situation triggers the imperfect when it's in the past tense?

In addition, what are some other imperfect subjunctive triggers I should be aware of outside of this one and other hypothetical if statements?

Thanks!

Is it possible to use the subjunctive to express a current emotion/hope about a past action? Or do the clauses have to match in tense?

For example:

Espero que tú fueras- I hope that you went

Is that ok?

So.. I know that I can use the Subj. Imp/Plu for Irrealis use "Sī studuissēs, loquerēris Germānicē".

But can I use it just as a regular indicative Imp/Plu? "Vidēbātur ut viverēs Romae".

I've never learnt about that so far, but it seems like it has to work like this.

Grātiās multās.

“Si tu me hubieras dicho siempre la verdad” or “si tu me dijeras siempre la verdad”

I’m reading ‘Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal’ as all Spanish students do.

I’ve come across this sentence: “Dejó que Harry viera televisión”

Am I right that ‘viera’ is imperfect subjunctive? Why is this? I thought subjunctive was used when something hasn’t actually happened or something that isn’t a being said as a statement of truth.

In English: “She let Harry watch TV”, I can maybe see that because it’s “watch” and not “watched” which obviously wouldn’t make any sense, I can see it’s not obvious grammar here.

If I was to say this in Spanish before reading it, I think I would have gone for: “Dejó que Harry ver la televisión”.

Why is ‘viera’ used? Can anyone explain what I’m missing from my understanding of subjunctive tenses? 🦄

I’m having trouble with these two sentences and knowing if I should be using imperfect subjunctive or just the preterite.

Ella se acostó antes de que llegaron/llegaran a casa los niños.

Él se despertó después de que había/hubiera ido al trabajo su esposa.

I know time expressions can trigger subjunctive but both of these actions appear to have actually happened. It makes more sense to use preterite to me but something is telling me that’s not right. (Preterite/past perfect/imperfect subjunctive/past perfect subjunctive.)

I encountered this on teleSUR:

"El movimiento talibán capturó este domingo la estratégica ciudad de Jalalabad, en el oriente de Afganistán, un día después de que tomara la norteña Mazar-i-Shafir, informaron medios locales de comunicación."

So what exactly is the usage of tomara here? I don't believe any of the usual trigger words/terms for the subjunctive are present, so would I be correct in guessing that the subjunctive is used here to say that the report can't be independently verified (like the German subjunctive I, for those who are familiar with it)? Is that clause passive, and if so is that a common way of constructing the passive?

Hello, all. I always believed that if there is a verb in the past tense that trigger subjunctive, then the following verb will always have to be in the imperfect subjunctive form (and not the present). For example, "Me dijo (preterite phrase that triggers subjunctive) que enviara (imperfect subjunctive) esta foto." However, I very often hear native speakers use present subjunctive despite the previous verb being in the past tense. For example, my cousin sent a text that said "Me dijo que envie esta foto," or another time I heard "Me dijo que use (as opposed to usara) la salsa para el platillo." Is this a case of one of those language rules that not even native speakers often follow, or is there a special exception for the verb "decir," or was my entire beginning premise incorrect? Thank you.

I've been doing some more reading on the subjunctive mood, specifically when to use which tense.

The article I'm reading uses the following phrase as one of the examples:

Yo hubiera bailado si no hubiese estado tan cansada

I understand that you can use either form of imperfect subjunctive, but I always assumed there was an unwritten rule that you choose one and stick to it. Is it ok to use both 'hubiera' and 'hubiese' in the same sentence, or has the author of the article made a mistake?

Hello!

Recently I’ve been trying to research both forms (-ra and -se) and their frequency. So far I have found that in Spain, both are used in free variation. However, in Latin America, -ra is heavily preferred in speech. LA is huge though, so it’d help a lot if there was a source I could look at regarding both endings.

I have also read that of the Latin American countries, Puerto Rico and Panamá have high -se usage. I would love to know more about this, especially PR.

Apologies if this has already been asked, I honestly couldn’t find anything close to this on this subreddit or anywhere else.

Thanks!

In my Spanish class, while going over the conjugation rules for imperfect subjunctive my professor told us to use the -ra,-ras,-ramos, -ran endings. He also quickly mentioned that you could alternatively use -se,-ses, -semos, -sen. I know there are regional/contextual reasons for this but no resource explaining the difference is readily available. Where do they use this? In what “context” would this ever be used? And how familiar should I be with this alternative form?

In the context of applying for an internship, I want to say: ‘I would love if you (plural) offered me this opportunity.’

The first way that springs to mind is: ‘Me encantaría que me ofrecieran esta oportunidad.’

Is this correct or would it be better to use the present subjunctive? Thanks

Edit: Also if I am greeting an interview panel, would I say: ‘Buenos días señores y señoras’?

And does this sound natural: ‘Espero que me concedan una entrevista’? Thank you!

Hi there, new Spanish learner here! I have written this sentence, but I am not sure if I should have used the imperfect subjunctive here:

Mi papá estaba contento cuando yo naciera.

For reference, I am trying to say “my dad was happy when I was born.” Am I correct in applying the imperfect subjunctive to nacer here, since I am speaking about my dad’s emotions and emotions are subjective? If not, why is that?

Thanks everyone!

I saw this line in a Spanish translation of Friends:

"No me gustaría que pasase por lo que pasé yo con Carl"

Which translates to something like "I would not want her to go through what I went through with Carl"

What I don't understand is why the imperfect subjunctive is used here with "pasase", as that part of the sentence doesn't seem to be in the past tense. Would it be wrong to use the present "pase" instead?

I was at the airport in Bogotá when a lady came up and asked me the above question because she had missed most of the pilot's announcement (which at that point was still going) in the airport.

I was able to understand the gist and respond but did not understand why that was the tense used. Obviously she was a native speaker and that was something that is in everyday speech, but is there an explanation why?

Thank you.

“Me pediste que te enviara las preguntas del texto.”

I saw this written somewhere and I was wondering why enviar is conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive and not the present subjunctive? It just confuses me bc in English the word “send” would be subjunctive but in present tense. (Or is this untrue?)

“You asked that I send the questions from the text”

Is this different in Spanish? That is, does the tense of the previous verb determine the tense of the following, subjunctive verb? Is this also true in English and I am just misunderstanding?

Hey everyone, getting tripped up on some subjunctive meanings.

• si lo viera, lo entendería
• si lo hubiera visto, lo entendería

Is it ...

• if you saw it, you would understand
• if you had seen it, you would understand?

Does the meaning change here based on what form you use? What sounds more natural?

Thank you! :D

As an English speaker I am having tons of trouble understanding the conditional and the imperfect subjunctive in certain circumstances.

A tiny bit of this confusion was cleared up (and maybe this will help someone out there) when I learned that a phrase like "You told me you would come to my party" is actually TWO separate concepts in Spanish. In Spanish this may be the conditional: "Me dijiste que vendrías a mi fiesta" (which refers to the future, You told me you would come to my party next week) OR the imperfect-subjunctive: "Me dijiste que vinieras a mi fiesta" (which refers to the past, You told me you would come to my party but you didn't show up).

For the folks that have mastered both the conditional & imp. subjunctive do you have any tips?

You know, like pudiera OR pudiese ?

What’s the reason for there being two options? Is one ending more common than the other? Do people usually pick one that they prefer and just use it always, or do people kind of switch back and forth just depending on how they’re feeling?

Im having trouble understanding the difference in usage of the conditional and subjunctive perfect tenses, since they both translate to "he/I/they would like"

for example:

adónde quisieran ir vs adónde querrían ir for where would they like to go

quisieras comer vs querrías comer for would you like something to eat

hay alguien que quisiera hablar contigo vs hay alguien que querría hablar contigo for there is someone who would like to speak with you

thank you, Im really having difficulty with this.

I just learnt that this tense, when used in speech, is considered 'snobby' or 'pretentious' and was wondering under what circumstances (if at all) someone would use it when talking.

Después de que (él) me dijera que mi problema es demasiado complicado...

All of the tense agreement rules I've seen relate to the indicative in the main clause followed by the subjunctive in the subordinate. In the fragment above, it's reversed. And there is a past subjunctive dijera followed by a present indicative es.

First, it just doesn't sound right. Shouldn't es be era?

And second, where can I learn about the tense agreement rules where the subjunctive is followed by the indicative as in the above example?

Hola a todos. While speaking, I very often fumble trying to find the imperfect past subjunctive, so I thought about it and I figured out a little shortcut that is probably obvious to many here. It is: if you can think of the 3rd person plural preterite, it can be changed to the past subjunctive quite easily. You change the "o" at the end to an "a" and conjugate from there.

For example: Preferir > prefirieron > prefiriera(n) Exigir > exigieron > exigiera(n)

Of course this only helps with one form of the past subjunctive, but one has to start somewhere.

Hi, I am trying to wrap my head around how to use it in the past-subjunctive of deber. I haven't really seen it used. I wrote a sentence down below, is it correct?

Debo arreglar el coche.
(I must fix the car.)

No creía que debiera arreglar el coche.
(I didn't think I was obligated to fix the car.)

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who's from Venezuela. He's a native speaker and has helped me a great deal with learning Spanish, but the one message he sent me piqued my interest:

"¿Qué hubieses hecho en mi lugar? ¿Le hubieses dado [a él] una oportunidad?"

I still understood what he meant, but wouldn't it technically be more correct if he said "¿Qué habrías hecho en mi lugar?" and "¿Le habrías dado una oportunidad?"

I know that the construction of imperfect subjunctive + conditional (and the reverse) is usually used to discuss hypothetical situations, but can the imperfect subjunctive alone accomplish this, just like my friend does?

Could anyone check if these phrases are correct; I have tried my best so sorry if they're trash lol.

"If I were rich I would move to London" "Wenn ich reich wäre, würde ich nach London umziehen."

"If I had the time, I would've visited the monument"

"Wenn ich das Zeit hätte, würde ich das Denkmal besuchen"

The imperfect subjunctive really confuses me, so would the above sentence count?

Danke im Voraus!

¡Hola a todos!

I am currently learning Spanish, and I encountered a sentence recently which has been throwing me for a loop. It's from "La Luz Fantástica", the Spanish translation of The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett.

"La violencia no era algo en lo que le gustase involucrarse directamente."

Which, unless I'm mistaken, translates to: "Violence was not something he liked to get involved with directly".

What I don't understand is the usage of the subjunctive imperfect in this sentence. In my mind, it would make more sense to write "gustaba" instead, and I can't seem to really understand the reason why the subjunctive would need to be used here.

I am starting to understand the way tense harmony works in Spanish, but I just can't wrap my head around this particular case. If anyone could explain to me why the subjunctive is used here, I would greatly appreciate it!

Gracias por adelanto, ¡y espero que todos tengan un buen día!

Salvete Omnes!

Recently i translated parts of Augustines "De Civitate Dei" and I noticed he frequently uses the Perfect (and sometimes Imperfect) Subjunctive, which I wasn't sure how to translate. After searching on the internet and finding nothing, I turn to this subreddit. My question is "How is the Perfect & Imperfect subjunctive used?"
This question refers to the ways it is used, without conjunctions like "cum" or "ut", just the forms by themselves.
Thanks in advance!

Okay... why?

How do I decide which one to use? Are there different contexts and situations that I need to be aware of? I'm reading that they're used equally. Any advice, tips or tricks?

Also, do Spanish-speaking parents talk in a special way to their young children to help them acquire these skills?

Hey, everyone! I have a grammatical question that my professors were never able to explain to well.

I was taught that when a subjunctive-triggering word is in the main clause and is in the present, future, or present perfect, then the verb in the subordinate clause must be in the present or perfect present. Such as: "Dudo que puedas llegar a ser presidente." Or "Me sorprende que haya venido acá."

I was told when the main clause verb is in the imperfect, preterite, or conditional, then the subordinate verb will be in the imperfect of the subjunctive. Such as: "Él negó que ella fuera su hija."

However, I've learned that if the verb in the main clause is in the present tense but refers to something in the past, then the imperfect subjunctive is also used. For example, "Dudo que le gustara."

One of my professors from Ecuador denied this and said that she would always use "dudo que le haya gustado," but another professor, this one from Peru, disagreed.

My question is: when the main verb is in the present, when is it okay to use the imperfect subjunctive and when must you use the perfect progressive? For example, why is it, "Espero que te haya ido bien," and not, "espero que te fuera bien,"?