The Imperfect Subjunctive

(El imperfecto de subjuntivo)

Qu pas en
el senado?
El senador no
permiti que hablaran
los otros senadores.
hablaron vendieron escribieron
If you start with the 3rd person plural and
you know your preterit verbs, there are no
irregular forms, that is, there is no verb that
does not follow the rule.
How the imperfect subjunctive is formed
1. Start with the 3
rd
person plural (aron, ieron)
form of the verb in the preterit tense:
ron
2. Drop the -ron ending.
habla vendie escribie
3. Add the following endings for all three
conjugations:
-ra
-ras
-ra
-ramos
-rais
-ran
How the imperfect subjunctive is formed
1. Start with the 3
rd
person plural (aron, ieron)
form of the verb in the preterit tense:
ron ron
How the imperfect subjunctive is formed
Examples:
Note that -er and -ir forms are identical.
Note also that first- and third-person singular forms are the same,
and that all nosotros forms must carry a written accent.
hablar
hablara
hablaras
hablara
hablramos
hablarais
hablaran
escribir
escribiera
escribieras
escribiera
escribiramos
escribierais
escribieran
vender
vendiera
vendieras
vendiera
vendiramos
vendierais
vendieran
hablar
hablase
hablases
hablase
hablsemos
hablaseis
hablasen
escribir
escribiese
escribieses
escribiese
escribisemos
escribieseis
escribiesen
How the imperfect subjunctive is formed
Notice these alternate forms:
vender
vendiese
vendieses
vendiese
vendisemos
vendieseis
vendiesen
Everything that applies to the -ra forms applies also to the -se
forms; however, the latter are more literary and are used more
often in Spain than elsewhere.
The following chart shows the imperfect subjunctive
forms of some common regular and irregular verbs.
Infinitive Third-person plural
tomar
beber
escribir
creer
decir
estar
tomaron
bebieron
escribieron
creyeron
dijeron
estuvieron
tomara
bebiera
escribiera
creyera
dijera
estuviera
First-person singular
haber
ir
leer
Preterit Imperfect subjunctive
hubieron
fueron
leyeron
hubiera
fuera
leyera
The following chart shows the imperfect subjunctive
forms of some common regular and irregular verbs.
Infinitive Third-person plural
poder
poner
querer
saber
ser
tener
pudieron
pusieron
quisieron
supieron
fueron
tuvieron
pudiera
pusiera
quisiera
supiera
fuera
tuviera
First-person singular
traer
venir
Preterit Imperfect subjunctive
trajeron
vinieron
trajera
viniera
How the imperfect subjunctive is used
The same principles that are applied in the
present to determine whether to use the
subjunctive or the indicative are also used in
the past.
1. Cause or prevention.
3. Falseness or unreality.
2. Personal bias or emotion.
If the main clause expresses . . .
. . . the subjunctive is used in the
subordinate clause.
E
S
C
A
P
A
en caso de que
sin que
con tal (de) que
antes (de) que
para que
a menos que
(in case)
(without, unless)
(provided that)
(before)
(so that, in order that)
(unless)
How the imperfect subjunctive is used
The imperfect subjunctive is also always used after
the following phrases (and a few other similar ones),
just as with the present subjunctive.
Era importante que leyera mi horscopo.
La meteorloga insisti en que todos se
refugiaran de la tempestad.
How the imperfect subjunctive is used
More examples of the imperfect subjunctive:
It was important for me to read my horoscope.
The meteorologist insisted that everyone take
cover from the storm.
Notice that the use of the preterit or imperfect in the main
clause calls for the imperfect subjunctive in the
subordinate clause.
El periodista quera que arreglramos la sala para la
entrevista.
Era dudoso que contratramos a aquel comentarista.
How the imperfect subjunctive is used
More examples of the imperfect subjunctive:
The journalist wanted us to arrange the living room for the
interview.
It was doubtful that we would hire that commentator.
Remember that a written accent is required on the first-person plural
of the imperfect subjunctive forms.
El gobierno prohibi que pusiramos esa informacin
en el artculo.
The government prohibited us from putting that information in
the article.
Ojal (que) el patrocinador seleccionara mi
guin!
Ojal (que) no cancelaran mi serie favorita!
How the imperfect subjunctive is used
Use the imperfect subjunctive with ojal when it
means I wish (that).
I wish the sponsor would choose my script!
I wish they wouldnt cancel my favorite series!
EXPANSIN
More on structure and usage
Quisiera leer los anuncios
clasificados.
Pudieras prestarme la seccin
deportiva?
How the imperfect subjunctive is used
Peticiones con el imperfecto de subjuntivo
I would like to read the classified
ads.
Could you lend me the sports section?
A common use of the imperfect subjunctive is to make polite requests or
statements. In such cases, the forms of the verbs querer, poder, and deber
are used. Note the following examples.
Debiramos ir al concurso. We should go to the game show.
FIN