Why is subjunctive necessary when the sujbect is the same in both parts of the sentence.

Question

Podía ordenar los documentos ________. Podía ordenar los documentos como quisiera.I could organise the documents however I wanted.(HINT: This is non-specific information)
Why is the subjunctive necessary when the subject is the same in both parts of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Hola Joanne
The subjunctive is necessary in this sentence because the second part, "como quisiera" (however I wanted), expresses a non-specific or hypothetical situation. Even though the subject is the same in both parts, the subjunctive is used to indicate that there is no definite or specific way in which the documents were organized—it’s more about expressing flexibility or a hypothetical condition.
In Spanish, the subjunctive is often used after certain expressions or clauses that convey uncertainty, desire, or indefiniteness, even if the subject doesn't change. In this case, "como quisiera" implies that the method of organizing is open-ended or undefined, making the subjunctive the correct mood.
So, the subjunctive is used here not because the subject changes, but because the second part introduces a non-specific or hypothetical condition.
Hasta pronto
Silvia