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48. The Past Subjunctive / El imperfecto del subjuntivo

  preterite -ra: PAST (IMPERFECT) SUBJUNCTIVE
soñar
ver
oír
ellos soñaron  
ellos vieron  
ellos oyeron  
soñara soñaras soñara soñáramos soñarais soñaran
viera vieras viera viéramos vierais vieran
oyera oyeras oyera oyéramos oyerais oyeran

The past subjunctive of all verbs is formed by changing the ending of the third person plural (ellos) of the preterite from -ron to –ra. Note that the nosotros form gets an accent mark.

Since the third person of the preterite of -ir stem-changing verbs has a stem change, all forms of the past subjunctive have this change: durmiera, sintieras, pidiéramos, etc.

Past subjunctive forms ending in -se exist, but are not frequently used (change -ron to -se: soñase, viese, oyese, durmiese).

The imperfect subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses referring to past events in the cases mentioned previously (§46, 47):

Influence
(indirect commands):
Me pidió que fuera a visitarlo.
He asked me to go visit him.
Emotion
(subjective attitude):
Nos gustaba que viniera.
We liked that he would come.
Doubt or denial: No es que estuviera triste.
It's not that I was sad.
Uncertain antecedent: Quería un libro que le ayudara.
He wanted a book to help him.

Following ojalá, the past subjunctive signals a hypothetical situation contrary to current facts:
Ojalá (que) tuviera un millón de dólares. I wish I had a million dollars.

Similar conjectures introduced with "It would be..." may use the past subjunctive:

Sería bueno que llegaras a tiempo.
Sería deseable que evitaran la inflación.
It would be good for you to arrive on time.
It would be desirable if they could avoid inflation.

PRÁCTICA 48A.  Termine las oraciones de manera lógica. No todas requieren el subjuntivo.

1. La gente quería un gobierno que...
2. Sugirieron que...
3. Los senadores dijeron que...
4. A mis padres les gustaba que...
5. Buscaba desesperadamente personas que...
6. A mis amiguitos les sorprendía que...
7. Ojalá...
8. Sería deseable que...
9. Nos parecía raro que...
10. Las noticias informaron que...

PRÁCTICA 48B.  Exprese en español:

1. It's not that he didn’t have any options.
2. It would be convenient for us to live here.
3. It would be wonderful if you could go away.
4. It's not that fighting solved anything.
5. I wish we could live without eating.
6. I wish everybody understood me.
V
1. No es que no tuviera opciones.
2. Sería conveniente que viviéramos aquí.
3. Sería maravilloso que pudieras irte (que te pudieras ir).
4. No es que luchar resolviera nada.
5. Ojalá pudiéramos vivir sin comer.
6. Ojalá todo el mundo me entendiera.
t