oír Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
oír — to hear
The imperfect subjunctive of oír uses the 'oy-' stem from the preterite (oyera, oyeras, oyera).
oír Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for 'if' clauses involving hearing or when a past emotion/request is linked to hearing something.
Notes on oír in the Imperfect Subjunctive
This tense is always derived from the third-person plural of the preterite (oyeron). Drop the -ron and add the -ra endings.
Example Sentences
Si yo oyera un ruido, llamaría a la policía.
If I heard a noise, I would call the police.
yo
Me gustaría que nos oyeran.
I would like them to hear us.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Si oyeras el pódcast, entenderías el chiste.
If you heard the podcast, you would understand the joke.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: oiera
Correct: oyera
Why: Like the preterite, the 'i' must become a 'y' when located between two vowels.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: oigo
The present tense of oír is highly irregular, featuring a 'g' in the 'yo' form (oigo) and 'y' in most other forms.
Preterite
yo: oí
The preterite of oír uses 'y' in the third-person forms (oyó, oyeron) and adds accents to every 'i'.
Imperfect
yo: oía
The imperfect of oír is regular for -ir verbs but requires an accent on the 'í' (oía, oías, oía).
Future
yo: oiré
The future tense of oír is completely regular: just add endings to the infinitive (oiré, oirás, oirá).
Conditional
yo: oiría
The conditional of oír is regular: add the endings -ía, -ías, -ía to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: oiga
The present subjunctive of oír is based on the 'yo' form (oigo), resulting in the stem 'oig-'.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: oye
The imperative of oír uses 'oye' (tú) and 'oiga' (usted) to get someone's attention.
Negative Imperative
yo: no oigas
The negative imperative of oír uses 'no' plus the present subjunctive forms (no oigas, no oiga).