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When the past subjunctive tense is used and how it compares to how it is used in English. |
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Looking at how verb endings are formed in the past subjunctive tense with regular verbs. (Two different methods). |
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A look at some irregular verbs in the past subjunctive tense and how the formation of verb stems mirror those of the past simple (preterite), tense. |
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A look at how the past subjunctive tense is used with 'if statements' and when the present simple tense might be used instead. |
| What you can learn from this lesson | |
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Understanding when the past subjunctive tense is used in conversation and in what types of situations. (Hypothetical constructions.) |
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Understanding how verbs in the past subjunctive tense are formed. Being able to identify common stem changes with those of the past simple (preterite), tense. Knowing how to form verb ending using both formation methods and appreciating when each may be used in the real world! |
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Being able to formulate sentences in the past subjunctive tense when using 'if statements' and comparing these to 'if statements' in the present simple tense. |
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ROSETTA STONE |
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SPANISH COMPLETE EDITION |
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PART 1
The first part of this lesson looks at when the past
subjunctive tense is used. In Spanish this tense is used less often than other
tenses but of course it is still very important. Like the present subjunctive
tense the past subjunctive tense is used to reflect mood, desire, and the existence of doubt or potential. It is
similar to the conditional tenses in that it is often used to convey
hypothetical situations.
The past
subjunctive tense does not exist in English in the same way that it does in
Spanish. No direct comparison can be made between Spanish and English like it
can with other tenses. Instead in English other past tenses, the imperative
tense or the conditional tense might be used instead.
When the past subjunctive tense is used.
1) Like the present
subjunctive tense the past subjunctive tense is often used in sentences that
contain two different verbs and two different subjects. (The second verb in the
sentence is formed in the past subjunctive tense.) The difference however is
that the first verb in the sentence will usually be in
one of the past tenses.
Yo querría
que él viviera
conmigo.
I wanted him to live with me.
Ella me preguntó que yo no le diga nada.
She asked me not to tell him anything.
Notice how in English the second verb in each sentence is in the imperative form. This
is also true of similar sentences in the present subjunctive tense. The first
verb in each sentence in both Spanish and English is in one of the past tenses.
2) When forming sentences
with the conjunction ‘si’ meaning ‘if’ (if
statements). The past subjunctive tense is used with if statements to express
hypothetical situations or unlikely or impossible conditions.
Si yo fuera tú yo no compraría ese coche.
If I were you I wouldn’t buy that car.
Si solamente
(tú) estuvieras
diez años más joven.
If only you were ten years younger.
Si yo tuviera más dinero yo podría
comprarlo.
If I had more
money I cold buy it.
Notice that where in Spanish the past subjunctive tense is used, the past simple (preterite), tense is used in English.
PART 2
The second part of the lesson looks at how the past subjunctive tense is formed with regular verbs. As is the case with all regular verb formations it is only the endings of the verbs that change.
In Spanish there are two ways in which the past subjunctive tense can be formed. The first method illustrated below is the most common. The second method is still used however especially in some older texts. Whichever method is used it is important to remember that the meaning is exactly the same.
Method 1
| personal pronoun | bailar | comer | vivir |
| (to dance) | (to eat) | (to live) | |
| yo | bailara | comiera | viviera |
| tú | bailaras | comieras | vivieras |
| él/ella/usted | bailara | comiera | viviera |
| nosotros/nosotras | bailáramos | comiéramos | viviéramos |
| vosotros/vosotras | bailarais | comierais | vivierais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | bailaran | comieran | vivieran |
Things to note:
1) The endings of regular ER and IR verbs are exactly the same.
2) The verb formations in the 1st person singular (yo) and the third person plural (él/ella/usted) are the same for AR, ER and IR regular verbs.
Method 2
| personal pronoun | bailar | comer | vivir |
| (to dance) | (to eat) | (to live) | |
| yo | bailase | comiese | viviese |
| tú | bailases | comieses | vivieses |
| él/ella/usted | bailase | comiese | viviese |
| nosotros/nosotras | bailásemos | comiésemos | viviésemos |
| vosotros/vosotras | bailaseis | comieseis | vivieseis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | bailasen | comiesen | viviesen |
Things to note:
1) The endings of regular ER and IR verbs are exactly the same.
2) The verb formations in the 1st person singular (yo) and the third person plural (él/ella/usted) are the same for AR, ER and IR regular verbs.
PART 3
Part three of the lesson looks at irregular verb formations with the past subjunctive tense. Irregular verbs take the same endings as regular verbs but the verb stems may also change. If the verb stems do change then most of the time they change in the same way as they do for irregular verbs in the past simple (preterite), tense.
The following is a list of some common examples:-
| yo | tú | el/ella/usted | nosotros/as | vosotros/as | ellos/ellas/ ustedes |
|
| dar (to give) |
diera diese |
dieras dieses |
diera diese |
diéramos diésemos |
dierais dieseis |
dieran diesen |
| decir (to say) |
dijera dijese |
dijeras dijeses |
dijera dijese |
dijéramos dijésemos |
dijerais dijeseis |
dijeran dijesen |
| estar (to be) |
estuviera estuviese |
estuvieras estuvieses |
estuviera estuviese |
estuviéramos estuviésemos |
estuvierais estuvieseis |
estuvieran estuviesen |
| hacer (to do/make) |
hiciera hiciese |
hicieras hicieses |
hiciera hiciese |
hiciéramos hiciésemos |
hicierais hicieseis |
hicieran hiciesen |
| poder (to be able) |
pudiera pudiese |
pudieras pudieses |
pudiera pudiese |
pudiéramos pudiésemos |
pudierais pudieseis |
pudieran pudiesen |
| poner (to put) |
pusiera pusiese |
pusieras pusieses |
pusiera pusiese |
pusiéramos pusiésemos |
pusierais pusieseis |
pusieran pusiesen |
| querer (to want) |
quisiera quisiese |
quisieras quisieses |
quisiera quisiese |
quisiéramos quisiésemos |
quisierais quisieseis |
quisieran quisiesen |
| saber (to know) |
supiera supiese |
supieras supieses |
supiera supiese |
supiéramos supiésemos |
supierais supieseis |
supieran supiesen |
| tener (to have) |
tuviera tuviese |
tuvieras tuvieses |
tuviera tuviese |
tuviéramos tuvieseis |
tuvierais tuvieseis |
tuvieran tuviesen |
| venir (to come) |
viniera viniese |
vinieras vinieses |
viniera viniese |
viniéramos viniésemos |
vinierais vinieseis |
vinieran viniesen |
| ver (to see) |
viera viese |
vieras vieses |
viera viese |
viéramos viésemos |
vierais vieseis |
vieran viesen |
| ser (to be) ir (to go) |
fuera fuese |
fueras fueses |
fuera fuese |
fuéramos fuésemos |
fuerais fueseis |
fueran fuesen |
Things to note:
1) The verb formations in the 1st person singular (yo) and the third person plural (él/ella/usted) is the same for AR, ER and IR regular verbs.
2) All verbs can be formed using two different methods.
3) The verbs ‘decir’ (to say) and ‘ir’ (to go) have slightly different endings. The ‘i’ is dropped. This occurs only with some IR ending verbs.
4) The verbs ‘ir’ (to go) and ‘ser’ (to be) are formed in exactly the same way.
PART 4
The fourth part of the lesson looks specifically at ‘if’
statements. Sometimes in Spanish the present simple tense may be used with ‘if’
statements and sometimes the past subjunctive tense may be used. The correct
tense to use depends of the type of sentence. Part one of the lesson explains
how the past subjunctive tense is used with
‘if’ statements to express hypothetical situations or unlikely
or impossible conditions.
A verb that
is formed in the present simple tense follows an ‘if’ statement instead of the
past subjunctive tense in the following situations.
1) When talking about things that will or won’t happen if something else is or isn’t satisfied.
Si (tú) me das diez Euros (yo) lo haré.
If you give me ten Euros I will do it.
(Yo) gritaré si (tú) no me sueltas.
I will shout if you don’t let go of me.
1) When talking about likely possibilities.
(Tú) podrías qemarte
si no te pones bloqueador.
You could burn if you don’t put on suntan lotion.
Él debería ganar si él continua así.
He should win
if he keeps on like that.
Note, that if in Spanish the conditional tense with ‘would’ is used in a sentence it is likely that another verb in the same sentence will be in the past subjunctive tense.
That concludes this lesson on the past subjunctive tense. If you have not done so already watch the actual video for this lesson and then try one of the associated quizzes to test your understanding.
