Imperfect Subjunctive 1
The Imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood is used to
express the same subjectivity as the Present subjunctive, but in the past.
To indicate an action in the past in the same situations
where the subjunctive would be required in the Present:
e.g.
Era importante que Paola me trabajara en el
centro. (Imperfect
subjunctive) - It was important that Paola would work for me in the center
Es importante que Paola me trabaje en el
centro. (Present subjunctive)
- It is important that
Paola works for me at the center.
- After the expression "ojalá" or "ojalá
que" :
e.g.
Ojalá que lloviera mañana. (Imperfect subjunctive)
I hope that it would rain
tomorrow.
Ojalá
que llueva mañana. (Present
subjunctive)
I hope that it rains tomorrow.
- In if clauses to indicate contrary-to-fact or unlikely
events:
e.g.
Aprenderías más rápido si estudiaras más
(Imperfect
subjunctive)
You would learn faster if you
studied.
- When the verb in the main clause is in one of the past
tenses or in the conditional, the Imperfect subjunctive is used in the
dependent clause:
Preterite
Quise que él me visitara.
I wanted him to visit me.
Imperfect
Quería que mi amigo me visitara cada
día.
I wanted my friend to visit me
every day.
Past Perfect
He querido que mi amigo me visitara.
I had wanted that my friend to
visit me .
Conditional
Querría que mi amigo me visitara.
I would like my friend to
visit me.
- When the verb in the main clause is in the Present but it
refers to a previous occurrence:
e.g.
Me
gusta que ella llegara con él.
I like that she came with him
Es bueno que te comieras toda la comida
It’s good that you eat all the
food
- To indicate politeness:
Quisiera ir contigo - I
would like to go with you
¿Pudiera ir con ustedes? - Could I go with you?
Ella debiera ayudarla - She should help her
Imperfect
Subjunctive 2
It is important to know that in Spanish there are two
complete sets of conjugations in the Imperfect Subjunctive tense. In some Latin
American countries only the "-a" form is used in the spoken
Spanish, while the "-se" form is mainly used in
literary work.
Note: You can conjugate in the "-a
conjugation" of the Imperfect Subjuntive by
following the next steps:
1. take the third person plural of the Preterite form of
any -
ar, - er and - ir verbs
2. drop the - on ending to find the root
3. add the following endings to that root
"- a" conjugation
- a, - as, - a, - amos,
- ais,
- an
e.g.
bailar – to dance
3rd person plural of the preterite of bailar = bailaron
we remove the - on ending
the root is bailar -
Subject - bailar ( to dance)
Yo (I) - bailar - a (regular)
Tú (You)(Informal) - bailar -as
Usted (You)(Formal) - bailar -a
Él/Ella(He/She) - bailar -a
Nosotros(as)(We) - bailár -amos
Vosotros(as)(You)(Informal) - bailar -ais
Ustedes(You)(Formal) - bailar -an
Ellos(as)(They) - bailar -an
correr – to run (irregular)
3rd person plural of the preterite of correr = corrieron
we remove the - on ending
the root is correr -
Subject - correr (to run)
Yo (I) - corrier-a
Tú (You)(Informal) - corrier-as
Usted (You)(Formal) - corrier-a
Él
/Ella(He/She) - corrier-a
Nosotros(as)(We) - corriér-amos
Vosotros(as)(You)(Informal) - corriér-ais
Ustedes(You)(Formal) - corrier-an
Ellos(as)(They) - corrier-an
vivir – to live (irregular)
3rd person plural of the preterite of vivir = vivieron
we remove the - on ending
the root is vivir-
Subject - vivir (to live)
Yo (I) - vivier-a
Tú (You)(Informal) - vivier-as
Usted (You)(Formal) - vivier-a
Él/Ella(He/She) - vivier-a
Nosotros(as)(We) - viviér-amos
Vosotros(as)(You)(Informal) - viviér-ais
Ustedes(You)(Formal) - vivier-an
Ellos(as) (They) - vivier-an
Note: You
can conjugate in the "-se conjugation" of the Imperfect
Subjuntive by following the next steps:
1. take the third person plural of the preterite form of any -
ar, - er and - ir verbs
2. drop the - ron ending to find the root
3. add the following endings to that root
"-se" conjugation
- se, - ses, - se, - semos, - seis, - sen
This rule works perfectly for all three families of verbs (- ar, -
er and - ir),
e.g.
bailar – to dance (regular)
3rd person plural of the preterite of bailar = bailaron
we remove the - ron ending
the root is baila-
Subject - bailar ( to dance)
Yo (I) - baila-se
Tú (You)(Informal) - baila -ses
Usted (You)(Formal) - baila -se
Él/Ella(He/She) - baila -se
Nosotros(as)(We) - bailá -semos
Vosotros(as)(You)(Informal) - baila -seis
Ustedes(You)(Formal) - baila -sen
Ellos(as)(They) - baila -sen
correr – to run (irregular)
3rd person plural of the preterite of correr = corrieron
we remove the - ron ending
the root is corrie-
Subject - correr (to run)
Yo (I) - corrie-se
Tú (You)(Informal) - corrie-ses
Usted (You)(Formal) - corrie-se
Él/Ella(He/She) - corrie-se
Nosotros(as)(We) - corrié-semos
Vosotros(as)(You)(Informal) - corrie-seis
Ustedes(You)(Formal) - corrie-sen
Ellos(as)(They) - corrie-sen
vivir – to live (irregular)
3rd person plural of the preterite of vivir = vivieron
we remove the - on ending
the root is vivier-
Subject - vivir (to live)
Yo (I) - vivie-se
Tú (You)(Informal) - vivie-ses
Usted (You)(Formal) - vivie-se
Él
/Ella(He/She) - vivie-se
Nosotros(as)(We) - vivié-semos
Vosotros(as)(You)(Informal) - vivie-seis
Ustedes(You)(Formal) - vivie-sen
Ellos(as)(They) - vivie-sen
we remove the - on ending
we remove the - on ending
2. drop the - ron ending to find the root
3. add the following endings to that root
we remove the - ron ending
we remove the - ron ending
vivir – to live (irregular)
we remove the - on ending
Imperfect
subjunctive 3
