Imperfect Subjunctive

Let's review the use of the subjunctive with this practice activity. Some of these sentences show emotions and doubts. Other sentences DO NOT express doubt or emotion, but rather convey certainty. And finally, there are some verbs that do not need to be conjugated due to their placement in the sentence. Read these sentences carefully and fill in the blanks.

Please complete the following activity.

Before we move on, let's make sure we understand the difference between tense and mood. A tense is when you communicate referring to the past, the present, or the future. We refer to "subjunctive" as a mood. When we learned the subjunctive tense, we studied it in the present subjunctive. It was the subjunctive mood in the present tense. The subjunctive can also be used in the past tense. This is referred to as the imperfect subjunctive or the past subjunctive. You would use this in a sentence where the dependent clause used with "que" describes actions in the past. Ejemplo:

Mi abuela quería que yo la visitara cada domingo.

Mi grandmother wanted me to visit her every Sunday.

This is more closely translated to "My grandmother wanted that I visit her every Sunday", but it isn't exactly a direct translation.

In summary, the imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood is used to express the same subjectivity as the present subjunctive, but in the past. This means we would use the imperfect with doubt, emotion, uncertainty, etc.

Here are some more examples of the uses of imperfect subjunctive in Spanish:

Example One: To indicate an action in the past in the same situations where the subjunctive would be required in the present:

It is interesting that Jorge reads to me the news.
Es interesante que Jorge me lea las noticias. Present subjunctive
It was interesting that Jorge would read to me the news.
Era interesante que Jorge me leyera las noticias. Imperfect subjunctive

Example Two: After the expression ojalá (or ojalá que):

I hope that it snows tomorrow.
Ojalá quw nieve mañana. Present subjunctive
I hope that it would snow tomorrow.
Ojalá que nevara mañana. Imperfect subjunctive

Example Three: In "if" clauses to indicate contrary-to-fact or unlikely events:

I would buy a new car if I had the money.
Compraría un coche nuevo si tuviera dinero. Imperfect subjunctive.

Example Four: When the verb in the main clause is in one of the past tenses or in the conditional, the imperfect subjunctive is used in the dependent clause:

Preterite, I wanted him to write me.
Quise que, él, me escribiera.
Imperfect, I wanted my son to write me every day.
Quería que mi hijo me escribiera cada día.

Past Perfect, I had wanted that my son to write me in his absence.
Había querido que mi hijo me escribiera en su ausencia.
Conditional, I would like my son to write me during his trip.
I would like my son to write me during his trip.

Example Five: When the verb in the main clause is in the present but it refers to a previous occurrence:

It does not seem fine to me that he arrived with her.
No me gusta que, él, llegara con ella.
It’s good that you arrived together.
Es bueno que Uds. Vinieran juntos.

Example Six: To indicate politeness:

I would like to attend the meeting.
Quisiera asistir a la reunión.
Could I go with you?
¿Pudiera ir con Uds.?

Conjugation of the Verb

Here is a simple formula that works for ALL verbs:

Take the 3^rd person plural of the preterite. (hablar à hablaron)
Take off the "ron" at the end of word. (habla___)
Add the following endings:

Subjunctive Endings,
yo, -ra, tú, -ras, él ella Ud., -ra, nosotros, -ramos, vosotros, -rais, ellos ellas Uds., ran

*When conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, you can choose from two different sets of endings. We will study the more widespread conjugation, the verbs using "ra" endings.

WATCH OUT FOR THE ACCENTS: Nosotros imperfect subjunctive conjugations have an accent mark on the vowel that comes immediately before the subjunctive ending. For example: habláramos and escribiéramos.

Here are three common verbs conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive:

Subject, yo, tu, él ella usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos ellas ustedes,
Hablar, hablara, hablaras, hablara, habláramos, hablarais, hablaran,
Hacer, hiciera, hicieras, hiciera, hiciéramos, hicierais, hicieran,
Traducir, tradujera, tradujeras, tradujera, tradujéramos, tradujerais, tradujeran

The great thing about the imperfect subjunctive is that the above formula works for all verbs. If you know the preterite form of a verb, you can easily conjugate the imperfect subjunctive. If you've forgotten the preterite tense, you can quickly review in Módulo 1.

In case you prefer a more interactive lesson, take a look at the video below to review how to conjugate the imperfect subjunctive.

Imperfect Subjunctive Practice

Practice conjugating verbs in the imperfect subjunctive with the following activity.

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