{"id":8388,"date":"2020-04-22T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mydailyspanish.com\/?p=8388"},"modified":"2023-09-14T13:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T21:30:36","slug":"imperfect-subjunctive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mydailyspanish.com\/imperfect-subjunctive\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive: All You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I were you, I\u2019d read on to learn about the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish. Do you see that \u2018were\u2019 in the first sentence? That\u2019s the English version of the imperfect subjunctive!<\/p>\n

Note the difference between \u2018If I was<\/strong> you\u2019 (common but incorrect) and \u2018If I were<\/strong> you\u2019 (correct & subjunctive).<\/p>\n

In this lesson, we’ll talk about the Spanish imperfect subjunctive. <\/p>\n

\"Imperfect<\/span><\/p>\n

When do we use the subjunctive?<\/h2>\n

The subjunctive is a ~mood~ which we use to express things that aren\u2019t concrete fact. A great way to remember when to use the subjunctive is with the acronym \u2018UWEIRDO.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
U<\/td>uncertainty\/possibility<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
W<\/td>wishes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
E<\/td>emotions <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I<\/td>impersonal expressions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
R<\/td>recommendations<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
D<\/td>doubts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
O<\/td>ojal\u00e1<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

For more explanation on this, please check out our article on the present subjunctive<\/a>, and take a look at this lesson on the difference between the Spanish subjunctive and the indicative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check out this article<\/a> for a list of phrases that trigger the subjunctive. If you put them in the past tense, you trigger the imperfect subjunctive!<\/p>\n

How to form the Spanish imperfect subjunctive<\/h2>\n

The imperfect subjunctive isn\u2019t too difficult to form. All you have to do is add the correct endings to the stem. <\/p>\n

To find the stem, you take the third person plural of the preterite, and drop the –ron<\/em>! Let me show you what I mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
Infinitive<\/td>Hablar<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Third person plural (ellos\/ellas) <\/i>in the preterite<\/td>Hablaron<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stem for imperfect subjunctive!<\/td>Habla-<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

For most regular verbs, you\u2019ll find that the stems look quite similar. For –ar<\/em> verbs, it\u2019s the infinitive minus the final -r<\/em>. For -er<\/em> and -ir<\/em> verbs, you drop the –er<\/em> or –ir<\/em> and change it to -ie<\/em>. This\u2019ll become more apparent once you\u2019ve seen some examples.<\/p>\n

Here are the imperfect subjunctive endings. These endings will see you through regular verbs (-ar<\/em>, –er,<\/em> and –ir<\/em>), irregular verbs, and stem-changing verbs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
-ra<\/i><\/td>-ramos*<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ras<\/i><\/td>-rais<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ra<\/i><\/td>-ran<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

*We\u2019ll have to add an accent to the vowel that comes just before the \u2018-ramos<\/em>.\u2019 For example, and\u00e1ramos, comi\u00e9ramos<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As well as the –ra<\/em> form that we\u2019ve given above, we also have the –se<\/em> form. It means exactly the same, and it\u2019s up to you which one you use! In this article, we\u2019ve stuck with the –ra <\/em>form, as it\u2019s more common, but feel free to use this version if you prefer it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
-se<\/i><\/td>-semos*<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-ses<\/i><\/td>-seis<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
-se<\/i><\/td>-sen<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

*We\u2019ll have to add an accent to the vowel that comes just before the \u2018-semos<\/em>.\u2019 For example, and\u00e1semos, comi\u00e9semos<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When do we use the imperfect subjunctive?<\/h2>\n

So, we have two forms of the subjunctive: the present subjunctive, and the imperfect subjunctive. <\/p>\n

The present subjunctive is used for UWEIRDO with present, perfect, future, and imperative clauses.<\/p>\n

The imperfect subjunctive is more geared towards the past. We can still use UWEIRDO, but it\u2019s used when the main clause is in the conditional, pluperfect, imperfect, or preterite. There are also some important trigger phrases!<\/p>\n