Conjugate Spanish verbs in the Spanish imperfect subjunctive tense (El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo)

Written by qualified Spanish expert Silvia Piriz BA

Last updated: 2023-09-06

We use El Pretérito Imperfecto Subjuntivo in some subordinate clauses and in particularly polite requests.

Learn how to conjugate Spanish verbs in El Pretérito Imperfecto Subjuntivo in Spanish

Rather unusually, this tense has two conjugation forms. Take a look at these regular verb conjugations:

Conjugation 1

	HABLAR to speak	COMER to eat	VIVIR to live
yo	hablara	comiera	viviera
tú	hablaras	comieras	vivieras
él / ella / usted	hablara	comiera	viviera
nosotros / nosotras	habláramos	comiéramos	viviéramos
vosotros / vosotras	hablarais	comierais	vivierais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablaran	comieran	vivieran

Conjugation 2

	HABLAR to speak	COMER to eat	VIVIR to live
yo	hablase	comiese	viviese
tú	hablases	comieses	vivieses
él / ella / usted	hablase	comiese	viviese
nosotros / nosotras	hablásemos	comiésemos	viviésemos
vosotros / vosotras	hablaseis	comieseis	vivieseis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablasen	comiesen	viviesen

To conjugate ALL verbs in El Pretérito Imperfecto Subjuntivo, you use the stem of the 3^rd 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 Pretérito 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.

Ojalá ustedes ganaran el primer premio.I hope you win first prize.

Note that both the conjugations ending in -ra (conjugation 1) and in -se (conjugation 2) are used equally in Spain, but in Latin America the -ra (conjugation 1) form is more frequent in particular in the spoken language.

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Examples and resources

Tal vez él viviera en Isla Margarita.Maybe he lived on Isla Margarita.

Ojalá nosotros comiéramos paella.I wish we had paella.

Es imposible que llegase a tiempo.It is impossible that he arrived on time.

Si viajara a Estados Unidos, visitaría Hollywood.If I travelled to the United States, I would visit Hollywood.

El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.The bank told us to sign the documents.

No creo que aparcaran en el centro.I don't think they parked in the centre.

Ella dudaba mucho que él dijera que sí.She very much doubted that he would say yes.

Tal vez ella estudiase mucho.Maybe she studied a lot.

Sería bueno que bajaran los precios.It would be good if they lowered the prices.

Yo esperaba que ella hablara con sus padres pronto.I was hoping that she spoke with her parents soon.

Ojalá nosotros viniésemos el año que viene.I wish we could come next year.

Ojalá ustedes ganaran el primer premio.I hope you win first prize.

Ojalá tú estuvieses aquí.I wish you were here.

Nos gustaría que empezaras a trabajar con nosotros.We would like you to start working with us. [you=tú]

Ojalá yo fuese una estrella de rock.I wish I were a rock star.

¿Les pidieron que mostraran sus pasaportes?Did they ask you to show your passports? [you=ustedes]

Tal vez ella dijese la verdad.Maybe she told the truth.

Os pidieron que vaciarais vuestros bolsillos.They asked you to empty your pockets. [you=vosotros]

Tal vez vosotros pudierais hacer mejor el ejercicio. Maybe you all could do the exercise better.

Ojalá ellos fueran al concierto de Beyoncé.I wish they were going to the Beyoncé concert.

Ojalá tú estuvieras aquí.I wish you were here.