Pretérito imperfecto vs pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Question

¡Hola!Let's have a look at the following sentences:1) Mis padres querían que estudiara Derecho2) Susana quería que le hubiera traído fresas, pero no pudeCould you tell me if Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo is used in the second sentence to emphasize  that somebody didn't manage to bring strawberries, however the result of the first one is unknown?Regards,Alexander

Accepted Answer

Hola Alexander,
With your sentence number 1, "Mis padres querían que estudiara Derecho.", using the Imperfect Subjunctive (estudiara) we don't really know whether she/he really studied Law. It is simply her/his parents wish then, at that moment in the past.
If your sentence number 1 said:
Mis padres querían que hubiera estudiado Derecho."
then we'd know by using the Pluperfect Subjunctive that he/she didn't study Law. 
With your sentence number 2 
Susana quería que le hubiera traído fresas, pero no pude.
we know that you didn't bring Susana strawberries. However if we had used the Imperfect Subjunctive instead:
Susana quería que le trajera fresas.
then we only know what Susana wanted, but we don't know whether I brought them in the end or not.
I hope this helps,
saludos
Inma

Answer

¡Thanks a lot, Inma!