comprender Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
comprender — understand
The imperfect subjunctive of comprender uses the preterite stem: comprendiera, comprendieras, comprendiera, comprendiéramos, comprendierais, comprendieran.
comprender Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for past-tense triggers of the subjunctive or in 'if' clauses (e.g., 'If I understood, I would help').
Notes on comprender in the Imperfect Subjunctive
Comprender is regular in this tense. The stem comes from the 'ellos' form of the preterite (comprendieron).
Example Sentences
Si yo comprendiera el problema, te ayudaría.
If I understood the problem, I would help you.
yo
Me gustaría que ellos comprendieran mi decisión.
I would like them to understand my decision.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Era necesario que comprendiéramos el contrato.
It was necessary that we understood the contract.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: comprendieramos (missing accent)
Correct: comprendiéramos
Why: The 'nosotros' form of the imperfect subjunctive always requires an accent on the vowel before the -ramos ending.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: comprendo
Comprender is a regular -er verb in the present: comprendo, comprendes, comprende, comprendemos, comprendéis, comprenden.
Preterite
yo: comprendí
The preterite of comprender is regular: comprendí, comprendiste, comprendió, comprendimos, comprendisteis, comprendieron.
Imperfect
yo: comprendía
Comprender is regular in the imperfect: comprendía, comprendías, comprendía, comprendíamos, comprendíais, comprendían.
Future
yo: comprenderé
The future of comprender uses the full infinitive as the stem: comprenderé, comprenderás, comprenderá, comprenderemos, comprenderéis, comprenderán.
Conditional
yo: comprendería
The conditional of comprender is regular: comprendería, comprenderías, comprendería, comprenderíamos, comprenderíais, comprenderían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: comprenda
The present subjunctive of comprender uses -a endings: comprenda, comprendas, comprenda, comprendamos, comprendáis, comprendan.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: comprende
The imperative of comprender varies by person: comprende (tú), comprenda (usted), comprendamos (nosotros), comprended (vosotros), comprendan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no comprendas
The negative imperative of comprender uses the present subjunctive: no comprendas, no comprenda, no comprendamos, no comprendáis, no comprendan.