We use El Imperfecto Subjuntivo in some subordinate clauses and in particularly polite requests.
Rather unusually, this tense has two conjugation forms. Take a look at these regular verb conjugations:
Conjugation 1 (used widely in speech in Spain, Latin America and South America)
|
|
ESTUDIAR |
COMER |
VIVIR |
| yo |
estudiara |
comiera |
viviera |
|
tú |
estudiaras |
comieras |
vivieras |
|
él / ella / usted |
estudiara |
comiera |
viviera |
|
nosotros / nosotras |
estudiáramos |
comiéramos |
viviéramos |
|
vosotros / vosotras |
estudiarais |
comierais |
vivierais |
|
ellos / ellas / ustedes |
estudiaran |
comieran |
vivieran |
Conjugation 2 (used more in written language and in Spain)
|
ESTUDIAR |
COMER |
VIVIR |
|
|
yo |
estudiase |
comiese |
viviese |
|
tú |
estudiases |
comieses |
vivieses |
|
él / ella / usted |
estudiase |
comiese |
viviese |
|
nosotros / nosotras |
estudiásemos |
comiésemos |
viviésemos |
|
vosotros / vosotras |
estudiaseis |
comieseis |
vivieseis |
|
ellos / ellas / ustedes |
estudiasen |
comiesen |
viviesen |
To conjugate ALL verbs in El Imperfecto Subjuntivo, you use the stem of the 3rd person plural (ellos, ellas) of El Pretérito Indefinido (without the -ron ending), to which you add the following endings:
1- Pretérito Indefinido stem + -ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran
2- Pretérito Indefinido stem + -se, -ses, -se, -semos, -seis, -sen
ATTENTION:
All verbs that are irregular in the 3rd person of El Pretérito Indefinido are also irregular in El Imperfecto Subjuntivo:
Ojalá yo fuera una estrella de rock.
I wish I were a rock star.
Ojalá yo fuese una estrella de rock.
I wish I were a rock star.
Ojalá tú estuvieses aquí.
I wish you were here.
Tal vez él viviera en Isla Margarita.
Maybe he lived on Isla Margarita.
Ella dudaba mucho que él dijera que sí.
She very much doubted that he would say yes.
Tal vez ella dijese la verdad.
Maybe she told the truth.
El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.
The bank told us to sign the documents.
Tal vez vosotros pudierais hacer mejor el ejercicio.
Maybe you all could do the exercise better.
No creo que aparcaran en el centro.
I don't think they parked in the centre.
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
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Tal vez vosotros pudierais hacer mejor el ejercicio.
Maybe you all could do the exercise better.
No creo que aparcaran en el centro.
I don't think they parked in the centre.
Es imposible que llegase a tiempo.
It is impossible that he arrived on time.
Tal vez ella dijese la verdad.
Maybe she told the truth.
El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.
The bank told us to sign the documents.
Yo esperaba que ella hablara con sus padres pronto.
I was hoping that she spoke with her parents soon.
Ojalá nosotros comiéramos paella.
I wish we had paella.
Tal vez ella estudiase mucho.
Maybe she studied a lot.
Ojalá yo fuese una estrella de rock.
I wish I were a rock star.
Os pidieron que vaciarais vuestros bolsillos.
They asked you to empty your pockets.
Sería bueno que bajaran los precios.
It would be good if they lowered the prices.
Tal vez él viviera en Isla Margarita.
Maybe he lived on Isla Margarita.
Ella dudaba mucho que él dijera que sí.
She very much doubted that he would say yes.
Ojalá tú estuvieses aquí.
I wish you were here.
Si viajara a Estados Unidos, visitaría Hollywood.
If I travelled to the United States, I would visit Hollywood.
Ojalá tú estuvieras aquí.
I wish you were here.
Ojalá ellos fueran al concierto de Beyoncé.
Maybe they went to the Beyoncé concert.
Ojalá nosotros viniésemos el año que viene.
I wish we could come next year.
Nos gustaría que empezaras a trabajar con nosotros.
We would like you to start working with us.
Marcos
Kwiziq community member
12 June 2019
3 replies
When do we use this tense instead of the regular subjunctiv?
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
12 June 2019
12/06/19
Hola Marcos
What do you mean by the regular subjunctive? Do you mean instead of the present subjunctive?
Inma
Marcos
Kwiziq community member
13 June 2019
13/06/19
Yes, that is what I meant. I'm still learning the names of the tenses! Thanks.
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
13 June 2019
13/06/19
Hi Marcos
Well, there are lots of different cases when we use one or the other. We have some general information about these two tenses and all the lessons to do with each of them at the bottom.
El Presente de Subjuntivo
El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
Hope this helps,
¡que pases un buen día!
Inma