TOPIC 18

Pretérito imperfect
Imperfect Subjunctive
Reading and Conversation
WHAT IS THE SPANISH
IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE?
The imperfect subjunctive tense is very often used in
Spanish. This tense is also known as the Spanish past
subjunctive, but its real name is the preterite
imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood.
The word “preterite” means past and the word
“subjunctive” denotes mood. The subjunctive does
not express time. It reveals the point of view of a
speaker. That’s why you’ll notice that the Spanish
imperfect subjunctive is often used to express a point
of view in the past.
The first step to understanding this past
subjunctive tense is understanding the
present subjunctive. This is because the
imperfect subjunctive is basically used to
express the same subjectivity as the
present subjunctive, except in the past.
Since it is in the past, the main difference
is the timing. So learning more about the
present subjunctive before you get into
the nitty and gritty of how to use the
imperfect subjunctive is something you
might want to do.
Let’s look at an example.
Quisiera dos libros, por
favor.
This translates to:
I’d like two books, please.
In this sentence, the verb is
querer. Conjugating querer
into quisiera is what makes
this sentence an imperfect
subjunctive example.
So, to use the imperfect
subjunctive correctly you
need to know how to
conjugate Spanish verbs with
this tense.
 How to Conjugate a
Regular Verb into
Imperfect Subjunctive in
Spanish
 FIRST: When you conjugate a regular verb into imperfect
subjunctive in Spanish, you will have to use the third
plural form of the preterite tense.

Take the verbs hablar and tomar as an example.

The third person form of the preterite for these verbs would be as follows:
hablar→ hablaron
tomar → tomaron

When you conjugate hablar into the third person plural form, you think
about what you would say after ellos or ellas.
Ellos (hablar) toda la noche.
Ellas (tomar) una cerveza antes de bailar.
Now try conjugating the two verbs given
below in the third person plural form of the
preterite (simple past) tense yourself.

tener→
escuchar →
Remember, if you can’t figure out how to
conjugate these, then put an ellos or ellas in
front of the verb.
Ellos (tener) mucho dinero.
Ellas (escuchar) la ópera.
Here’s how you should
have conjugated it:

tener→ tuvieron
escuchar → escucharon
SECOND: The next step after having found the third
person plural form of the preterite tense would be to
take off the -ron.

After you have conjugated the verb into the third

person plural of the preterite tense, you remove the -
ron at the end of the verb.
escucharon → escucharon → escrucha_
hablaron → hablaron → habla_

You will be adding different letters to the ending of

these verbs in a minute. But first, you should practice.
 ACTIVITY BREAK
So I will give you two verbs and you will first
conjugate them into the third person plural of the
preterite tense and then remove the -ron at the
end.

1 regresar → →
2 esperar → →
ANSWER
THIRD: Now, you will add the imperfect subjunctive endings to your
verb.
Now that you have your verb with an open ending, you need to use one
of the two imperfect endings to conjugate the verb into the imperfect
subjunctive.

Teaching Note: Please insert

an image of Rosa Parks in the
frame.

Let me give you some examples so you can get a better visual.
comer → comieron → comie_ → yo comiera o yo comiese
estar → estuvieron → estuvie_ → tú estuvieras o tú estuvieses
 How to Conjugate
Irregular Verbs into the
Spanish Imperfect
Subjunctive
Like with most rules in Spanish, or any language really,
there are exceptions. Though the system I have taught
you above is the general rule, there are some irregular
verbs that stray from this rule.
The best thing to do is to understand and get used to
conjugating the verbs into the imperfect subjunctive and
once you get the hang of it, start memorizing the irregular
verbs that do not follow the general guidelines.
I am going to give you the three of the most commonly
used irregular verbs for the imperfect subjunctive and will
show you how to conjugate them. Two of these are
actually conjugated identically even though they are not
used in the same context.
Take note of the
transition words.
Take note of the
transition words.
Take note of the
transition words.
 When to use the
Imperfect Subjunctive
in Spanish
1. Past and Present

The imperfect subjunctive is used when you are indicating

an action in the past in the same situation where the
subjunctive would be required in the present.

For example, look at this sentence in the present

subjunctive:
Es emocionante que Maria me lea el periódico.

This translates to:

It is exciting when Maria reads the newspaper to me.
This is when you can use what you have learned to good
use. If you want to say the same thing but in the past, you
use the imperfect subjunctive. To change something that
is in the present to the imperfect subjunctive you change
the verbs.

So you change es and lea

es → era
lea→ leyera

The sentence will now look like this:

Era emocionante que Maria me leyera el periódico.

This now translates to:

It was exciting that Maria would read the news to me.
Other expressions that usually indicate
your desire or wish for something
include sentences that start with the
following phrases:

Espero que…
Deseo que…
Quiero que…
Exigo que…
Prefiero que…
Pido que…
2. Expressions of Desire/Wishes or
Doubt
The imperfect subjunctive is commonly when you are trying to express a desire of something
you wish to happen, or when you are expressing doubt for something you are unsure of.
A. Wishes
In situations where you are hoping for something to happen in Spanish, the phrase ojála que is
used often.
Ojála que basically means hopefully or I wish.
So, let’s say you want to say “I hope it would rain on Wednesday.”

Then you would take the present sentence in spanish:

Ojalá que llueva el miércoles.
Which means:
I hope it rains on Wednesday.
3. Si (If) Events
The imperfect subjunctive is also used when you use an if
clause when trying to explain something that is contrary-to-
fact or unlikely to happen.

So, for example when you say:

If I worked harder, I would get promoted.

This would translate to:

Si trabajara más duro, me promovieran.

This sentence is using the if clause to explain why the person

cannot do something. So contrary to the fact that that person
did their job, they were not promoted because they did not
work hard enough. But using the if clause simplifies this
sentence.
You can see that the two verbs in the Spanish sentence
were conjugated according to the trick that I showed you
above.

→
trabajar yo trabajara
promover →
ellos promovieran

Spanish speakers use the Spanish imperfect subjunctive

in the “if clause” of these conditional sentences. The
English equivalent of these unreal sentences is the
second conditional.
4. Que → That
When you hear people speak in Spanish, you might hear
the word que a lot. The que might actually mean different
things depending on where it is placed in a sentence and
where the accent mark falls.
For this imperfect subjunctive example, the closest
translation we can get to expressing que is with the word
“that”.

For instance, if you wanted to say something like “I study

so that I can speak better Spanish”, the that would be the
replacement of the word que when using the imperfect
subjunctive.
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the dependent clause
after you use the word que but only when the independent
clause is in the past tense.

Let me give you an example of this:

Yo quería que él tomara un tequila conmigo.

Which is:
I wanted him to drink a tequila with me
Important: Never use the subjunctive mood to express
positive opinions in Spanish. As we learned before, you
can use it to express doubts or negative opinions.

Creí que llegaras a tiempo (incorrect)

Creí que llegarías a tiempo (correct)
No creí que llegaras a tiempo. (correct)
5. Being Polite
The imperfect subjunctive is also used in some polite
expressions that contain Spanish modal verbs. Let’s us
see!

For example:
I would like to attend the party.

Would translate to:

Quisiera asistir a la fiesta.
ACTIVITY BREAK
How would you say:

Should I go with you?

 ANSWER
The word should is the same as the verb deber. So how would you
translate this sentence? Keep in mind that you need to use the imperfect
subjunctive. Try writing it down and then continue to scroll down for the
answer.

Here’s the answer:

¿Debería ir con ustedes?
Let’s see an example with the verb poder.
Could you bring me my purse, please?

Try writing down your answer so that you can compare it

with the answer below. Sometimes when you just say your
answer, you don’t realize you got something wrong.

Trust me, write your answers down.

This should translate to:
¿Pudiera traerme mi cartera, por favor?
 Mastering the
Imperfect Subjunctive
in Spanish
The key to mastering the imperfect
subjunctive in Spanish, like any other
grammatical topic, is lots of practice.

We hope that you now have a better

understanding of what the imperfect
subjunctive is, how to use it, and
most importantly, when to use it!
Make sure you keep practicing the
imperfect subjunctive so that you can
get better at using this tense when it
is necessary.
 TOPIC 18

THANK YOU !
members
Hernandez, Rycela M.
1.

2. Zuelos, Eddieson P.

3. Fajardo, Angelica

4. Zantua, Aljhon M.