Why are there 2 conjugations for El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo? Are they interchangeable? Do native speakers use both equally, or is one used much more than the other?
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:
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A Forum 4 questions, 6 answers
JimKwiziq community member
Why 2 conjugations
Asked 3 weeks ago
Jim asked:View original
Why 2 conjugations
Why are there 2 conjugations for El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo? Are they interchangeable? Do native speakers use both equally, or is one used much more than the other?
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PatiKwiziq community member
Confusion about el imperfecto de subjuntivo translation above
I'm confused over the above example: El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.
With the English translation provided (The bank told us to sign the documents), why is it not written as follows:
El banco nos dijo firmar los documentos.
What's confusing is the reason for the use of el imperfecto de subjuntivo in this example --- particularly with this English translation.
Pati Ecuamiga
Asked 4 months ago
Hola Pati
This type of sentence doesn't work the same way in English and Spanish grammatically.
In English you say "To tell/ask someone to do something"
"She asked her to buy some flowers."
In Spanish to express this, we use:
Decir/pedir [a alguien] que + subjunctive.
If main verb in the present:
Ella le pide que compre flores. (Present subjunctive)
If main verb in the past:
Ella le pidió que comprara flores. (Imperfect subjunctive)
I hope this clarified it for you.
Saludos
Inma
Pati asked:View original
Confusion about el imperfecto de subjuntivo translation above
I'm confused over the above example: El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.
With the English translation provided (The bank told us to sign the documents), why is it not written as follows:
El banco nos dijo firmar los documentos.
What's confusing is the reason for the use of el imperfecto de subjuntivo in this example --- particularly with this English translation.
Pati Ecuamiga
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KarenKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
‘Estudiar’ a poor choice for the example conjugation
In the initial table of conjugation, I feel that ‘estudiar’ is a poor choice of example for the ‘ar’ verbs. Because this particular verb happens to have an ‘i’ before the infinitive ending, it blurs the differentiation between the conjugation of the ‘ar’ verbs and the ‘er’ and ‘ir’ verbs. It would be instantly clearer if a verb such as ‘hablar’ were chosen as the example.
Asked 8 months ago
InmaKwiziq team member
Hola Karen,
We chose "estudiar" as a basic and useful verb to use in a table showing three different verbs with different endings. We made sure that the infinitive endings were clearly highlighted and also the specific endings for each pronoun, so it shows clearly what happens when you conjugate them. Whichever verb you choose to conjugate in this tense, independently of the vowels that precede the infinitive -ar, -er, or -ir needs to follow the rule explained in the lesson (taking as a base the "ellos" form of their preterite, and add the Imperfecto de Subjuntivo endings). I can't see how using this verb would affect the learning of the content in this lesson.
We appreciate you writing to us.
Un saludo cordial,
Inma
StuartKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Hola,
I agree with Karen for what it's worth - a big part of confusion in learning for me is when things are very similar in structure, in this case, you start blurring between the conjugations. Removal of the 'i' (in choosing something like hablar) is a bit of the removal of the similarity and the confusion.
Hope that my point makes sense - it's a small point Karen makes, but I don't think it's insignificant, and transfers to other lessons (lessons are superb, but it's worth bearing it in mind - I've thought the same as her with previous conjugation lesson examples).
Warm regards,
Karen asked:View original
‘Estudiar’ a poor choice for the example conjugation
In the initial table of conjugation, I feel that ‘estudiar’ is a poor choice of example for the ‘ar’ verbs. Because this particular verb happens to have an ‘i’ before the infinitive ending, it blurs the differentiation between the conjugation of the ‘ar’ verbs and the ‘er’ and ‘ir’ verbs. It would be instantly clearer if a verb such as ‘hablar’ were chosen as the example.
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MarcosKwiziq community member
When do we use this tense instead of the regular subjunctiv?
Asked 8 months ago
InmaKwiziq team member
Hola Marcos
What do you mean by the regular subjunctive? Do you mean instead of the present subjunctive?
Inma
MarcosKwiziq community member
Yes, that is what I meant. I'm still learning the names of the tenses! Thanks.
InmaKwiziq team member
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.
Hope this helps,
¡que pases un buen día!
Inma
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