Ojalá - distinguishing between future hope/past wish

Question

Hello, I've been confused how to combine ojalá + [verb/event] to distinguish between a hope for the future and a regret/wish about the past.
A quiz example of each:
--Ojalá yo ________ un hijo a los 33 años.I hope I have a son by the time I'm 33.(HINT: Conjugate "tener" in El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo)
--Ojalá ________ mejor nuestra propuesta de trabajo.I wish you considered our work proposal more closely.(HINT: Use the "tú" form to conjugate "considerar" in El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo)
It seems like these both use ojalá  + imperfect subjunctive, but that one is a hope for the future and one is a wish/regret about the past. I might be missing something.
How could we distinguish between, for example:
"I hope I have a son by age 33 [and I still might]" vs.
"I wish I had a son by age 33 [but I didn't]"

or
"I hope you consider our proposal more closely" vs.
"I wish you considered our proposal more closely [but you didn't]"

Thank you!

Silvia Piriz · Accepted Answer

Hola Claire J.
Great question! You’re absolutely right that both examples use ojalá + imperfect subjunctive and that’s what makes this confusing. The important thing to understand is that the verb form alone does not distinguish between a future hope and a past regret. The interpretation depends largely on context and whether the situation is still possible.
When the situation is still possible, we use ojalá + imperfect subjunctive to express a hope.
For example:
Ojalá yo tuviera un hijo a los 33 años.
If you are not yet 33, this means: “I hope I have a son by the time I’m 33.” It’s a future hope and it’s still possible. The time reference (a los 33 años) and real-life context make it future-oriented.
However, if the moment has already passed and the situation is no longer possible, Spanish changes the tense. In that case we use the pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo:
Ojalá yo hubiera tenido un hijo a los 33 años.
This clearly expresses regret about the past: “I wish I had had a son at 33.” (But I didn’t.)
So the key distinction is this: the imperfect subjunctive can express something hypothetical or unreal, and context determines whether it refers to the future or not. If you want to clearly express a past regret, you must use hubiera + past participle.
Excellent question, this is a subtle but very important nuance in Spanish.
Saludos
Silvia