The Imperfect Subjunctive: Wishes and 'What Ifs'

The Imperfect Subjunctive is used to talk about things that are unreal, hypothetical, or subjective from a past perspective.

Main Uses & Triggers

Think of it as the past tense version of the present subjunctive. It's triggered by similar expressions of Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt, or Ojalá (WEIRDO), but when the main clause is in the past or conditional.

1. Hypothetical 'If' Clauses (Cláusulas 'si') This is the most common use. It describes a situation that is unlikely or contrary to fact.

• Structure: Si + imperfect subjunctive, ... conditional.
• Example: Si yo **fuera** rico, viajaría por el mundo. (If I were rich, I would travel the world.)

2. Verbs of Influence, Desire, or Emotion in the Past When the main verb expresses a wish, command, or feeling in the past, the following verb is in the imperfect subjunctive.

• Quería que tú **vinieras**. (I wanted you to come.)
• El rey mandó que el caballero **luchara**. (The king ordered that the knight should fight.)
• Me sorprendió que no lo **supieran**. (It surprised me that they didn't know it.)

3. Doubt or Uncertainty in the Past

• Dudaba que él **pudiera** hacerlo. (I doubted that he could do it.)
• No creía que **fuera** verdad. (I didn't believe it was true.)

4. After 'como si' (as if) 'Como si' is always followed by the imperfect subjunctive.

• Hablaba como si **supiera** todo. (He spoke as if he knew everything.)

How to Form It

There are two sets of endings (-ra and -se), and both are correct!

1. Take the ellos/ellas form of the Preterite tense. (e.g., hablaron, comieron, vivieron)
2. Drop the final -ron ending. (e.g., habla-, comie-, vivie-)
3. Add the imperfect subjunctive endings:
   • -ra, -ras, -ra, -´ramos, -rais, -ran
   • -se, -ses, -se, -´semos, -seis, -sen

Example with tener: Preterite: tuvieron -> Root: tuvie-

• tuviera, tuvieras, tuviera, tuviéramos, tuvierais, tuvieran
• tuviese, tuvieses, tuviese, tuviésemos, tuvieseis, tuviesen

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A Note for Your Reading: You might occasionally see the -ra form used in place of the conditional (e.g., Quisiera un café instead of Querría un café). Don't worry about this for now; this drill will focus only on the main uses explained above.