CSG174

163

The Subjunctive Mood Past Tenses: The Imperfect and the Pluperfect Subjunctive

The Imperfect Subjimctive

From your study of Spanish verbs, you probably associate the imperfect with the indicative tense used when verbs describe the duration of time in the past. The differences in the uses of the imperfect and the preterit indicative tenses are based on when the actions took place, how often they occurred, and so on. These distinctions do not apply to the imperfect (past) subjunctive or any other subjunctive past tense. The time of the action in the main clause determines the tense you will use in the dependent clause. Some patterns ask for the use of the imperfect subjunctive.

To form the imperfect subjunctive (imperfecto de subjuntivo) in Spanish, use the third-person plural (ellos/ellas) of the preterit tense of the indicative mood. Then,

•    drop the -ron ending of the third-person plural of the preterit (habla-ron, pudie-ron, sintie-ron)

•    and add the corresponding endings according to the models that follow:

hablar (to talk)		poder (to be able)		sentir (tofeel)
hablara	hablar amos	pudiera	pudieramos	sin dera	sintieramos
hablaras	hablar ais	pudieras	pudierais	sintieras	sintierais
hablara	hablar an	pudiera	pudieran	sin dera	sintieran

El director queria que yo hablara    Theprincipal wanted me to speak to the assembly.

a la asamblea.

No fue posible que el guia acompanara It was not possible for the guide to accompany

al grupo.    thegroup.

A second or alternate set of endings of the imperfect subjunctive, referred to as the -se endings, has the same meanings. These endings are less frequently seen.

El director queria que yo habla.se a la Theprincipal wanted me to talk to the assembly. asamblea.

No fue posible que el guia acompanase It was not possible for the guide to accompany

al grupo.    thegroup.

viajar (to trcwel)	traer (to bńng)	pedir (to ask, reąuest)
Yiajase viajasemos Yiajases viajaseis viajase viajasen	trajese trajesemos trajeses trajeseis trajese trajesen	pidiese pidiesemos pidieses pidieseis pidiese pidiesen

Notę that:

•    these models apply to all regular and irregular verbs, verbs with stem changes, and verbs with spelling changes.

•    the first- and third-person singular forms are exactly the same.

•    the nosotros forms have a written accent mark on the vowel preceding the r (or the s) of the endings.