Ojalá with past tenses in the subjunctive in Spanish

How does "ojalá" work in Spanish?

The origin of the word ojalá is said to be from the Arabic for God willing or if God wills it. 

Ojalá is a very commonly used expression in Spanish that means I hope that… It is always used with the subjunctive. To learn how to use it with El Presente de Subjuntivo see Using ojalá + the present subjunctive to express hope (El Presente de Subjuntivo).

Ojalá is also used with past tenses in the subjunctive to express: "hoping for something to happen or to have happened" 

• When referring to a hypothetical future event we normally use it with El Presente de Subjuntivo. However, if we want to express a reduced probability (i.e. less probable) that the event to happen, we use it with El Pretérito Imperfecto Subjuntivo

• It can also refer to a hypothetical past event. 

Let's see it with the different past tenses in the subjunctive:

Ojalá with El Pretérito Imperfecto de Subjuntivo

• can refer to a future event, that is considered not very probable. 

•  can also refer to a present event that is seen as not very probable at the moment of speaking.

•  can refer to a past event that is considered unlikely (i.e. not very probable).

This last example could be taken as a wish for the past or a wish for the future if there is no more context. We could be wishing that they arrived on time or that they will arrive on time if they are still on their way to the station. For example:

Note that in the context of the last example that refers to the past, it is a lot more common to use El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo, to express the same thing.

Ojalá with El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo

•  refers to something that someone wishes has happened, either very recently or with no particular time in mind.

Ojalá with El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo

• it refers to a wish that is seen as impossible to have happened in the past. It also often refers to something someone regrets having/not having done in the past. 

Bear in mind that the word ojalá is always placed at the beginning of the sentence. 

Ojalá can also be used as an expression on its own meaning "I wish!"/ "Let's hope for that!", for example: