{"id":144948,"date":"2023-03-10T18:16:24","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T23:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/imperfect-subjunctive-spanish\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T21:17:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T01:17:23","slug":"imperfect-subjunctive-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/imperfect-subjunctive-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive (Conjugation, Uses and Examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spanish imperfect subjunctive helps you express opinions, hopes, denials, doubts and hypothetical situations\u2014something I’m sure you do a lot in English, just maybe without realizing it.<\/p>\n

You can already use the preterite and imperfect tenses<\/a>, plus the present subjunctive<\/a>. Now you want to learn how to express yourself fully and confidently in Spanish, so it’s time to learn the imperfect subjunctive.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is the Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive?<\/h2>\n

The imperfect subjunctive is simply the past version of a subjunctive!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

As with the present subjunctive, the past subjunctive is triggered when we talk about opinions, hopes, denials, doubts\u00a0<\/strong>and hypothetical situations<\/strong>, and we have two clauses with different subject nouns.<\/p>\n

The only difference is that now we’re talking about the past.<\/p>\n

How to Conjugate the Imperfect Subjunctive in Spanish<\/h2>\n

1. Take the ellos<\/em> form (third-person plural) of the preterite.<\/strong><\/p>\n

bailar<\/em>\u00a0\u21d2 (ellos) bailaron<\/em><\/strong>
\npoder<\/em>\u00a0\u21d2 (ellos) pudieron<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Remove the -on<\/em> from the end.<\/strong><\/p>\n

bailaron<\/em>\u00a0\u21d2 bailar\u2013
\n<\/strong>pudieron\u00a0<\/em>\u21d2\u00a0pudier\u2013<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

3. Add the ending from the following table:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Subject<\/th>Ending<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Yo<\/td>-a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T\u00fa<\/td>-as<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted<\/td>-a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nosotros<\/td>-amos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vosotros<\/td>-ais<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes<\/td>-an<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n

bailar<\/em> \u21d2 (ella)<\/em> bailara<\/em><\/strong>
\npudier <\/em>\u21d2 (ella)<\/em> pudiera<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, you’ll be glad to know that it doesn’t matter if the verb is regular or irregular, this way of conjugating will always work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can also use the past perfect in the subjunctive the same way as in the indicative past perfect by conjugating the verb haber<\/em> and adding the past participle (-ado<\/em>, \u2013ido<\/em> form) as we’ll see below.<\/p>\n

The Alternate Conjugation of Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the above -ra<\/em> endings are the most common form of the imperfect subjunctive and the ones I’d recommend learning first, you’ll sometimes see -se<\/strong><\/em> endings\u00a0instead, especially in Spain.<\/p>\n

The meaning is the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to do the alternate conjugations, start with the ellos\u00a0<\/em>form again, but this time remove the last three letters, –ron<\/em>, and add:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Subject<\/th>Ending<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Yo<\/td>-se<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T\u00fa<\/td>-ses<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted<\/td>-se<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nosotros<\/td>-semos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vosotros<\/td>-seis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes<\/td>-sen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

So these would look like:<\/p>\n

bailar<\/em> \u21d2 (ella)<\/em> bailase<\/em><\/strong>
\npudier <\/em>\u21d2 (ella)<\/em> pudiese<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive in Spanish<\/h2>\n

1. Talking about the past<\/h3>\n

The difference between using the imperfect subjunctive to talk about the past instead of one of the indicative tenses (such as the preterite or imperfect) is that you’re talking about a past hypothetical, doubt, emotion or a “past action before another past action.”<\/p>\n

You can use the past perfect in the subjunctive in the same way as in the indicative past perfect\u2014by conjugating the verb haber<\/em> and adding the past participle (-ado<\/em>, –ido<\/em> form).<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Le impresion\u00f3 mucho que hubieras<\/strong> tomado clases de baile<\/em>.\u00a0\u2014 She was very impressed that you had taken dance classes.<\/p>\n

No conoc\u00eda a nadie que trabajara<\/strong> en esa compa\u00f1\u00eda.<\/em> \u2014 I didn’t know anyone who worked at that company.<\/p>\n

2. Talking about the present\u00a0<\/h3>\n

It may seem odd, but we can also use the imperfect subjunctive after como si<\/em> (meaning “as if”) to talk about the present. If it makes you feel any better, we also often use our (disappearing) English subjunctive in this context.<\/p>\n

This is how you’d say things like, “as if…”<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Baila contigo\u00a0como si ya fuera<\/strong> tu amante<\/em>.\u00a0\u2014 She is dancing with you\u00a0as if she were already your lover.<\/p>\n

Ella est\u00e1 viviendo como si fuera<\/strong> la reina. <\/em>\u2014 She is living as if she were the queen.<\/p>\n

3. Talking about hypotheticals\u00a0<\/h3>\n

A clause in the imperfect subjunctive can be coupled with a clause in the conditional<\/strong> to talk about fantastic, unlikely situations (not necessarily in the past).<\/p>\n

This also seems a bit weird until you realize we follow the same pattern in English.<\/p>\n

The construction you’ll see below is si<\/em><\/strong> + imperfect subjunctive clause<\/strong> (the if-only-it-were-so clause), conditional clause<\/strong>\u00a0(the how-things-would-then-be clause).<\/p>\n

Si yo fuera<\/strong> muy rico, ella estar\u00eda todav\u00eda\u00a0<\/em>conmigo<\/i>.\u00a0\u2014 If I were\u00a0very rich, she would still be with me.<\/p>\n

Si yo supiera<\/strong> bailar tango, podr\u00eda reemplazarla con cualquiera<\/em>.\u00a0\u2014 If I knew how to dance tango, I would be able to replace her with anyone\/whomever.<\/p>\n

4. When using certain verbs in past or conditional tense<\/h3>\n

Certain verbs will often trigger the imperfect subjunctive when it’s in the second clause.<\/p>\n

That means you know to use the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish if you see these in the first part of the sentence (and they’re conjugated in the past or conditional tense).<\/p>\n

Here are some of those verbs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Verb<\/th>Meaning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Agradecer<\/td>To thank<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alegrarse<\/td>To be happy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Desear<\/td>To wish<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Encantar<\/td>To be delighted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Enojar<\/td>To be angry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Esperar<\/td>To hope<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Estar triste\/contento\/etc.<\/td>To be sad\/happy\/etc.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Insistir<\/td>To insist<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Molestar<\/td>To bother<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Necesitar<\/td>To need<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
No creer<\/td>To not believe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pedir<\/td>To ask that<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Preferir<\/td>To prefer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quejarse de<\/td>To complain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Querer<\/td>To want<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sorprender<\/td>To surprise<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

5. To express desire, wishes and doubt<\/h3>\n

Like the normal subjunctive tense, the imperfect subjunctive is used to express things like desires, wishes and doubts.<\/p>\n

It can be used to talk about these things both in the past and in the present (as we saw above in number 2). But when discussing present<\/strong> feelings, think of it as saying “would [do something]” in English.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Ojal\u00e1 que fu\u00e9ramos<\/strong> a la playa ma\u00f1ana.\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 I hope that we would go to the beach tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Dudaba que ellos se hubieran<\/strong> ido.<\/em> \u2014 I doubted they had left.<\/p>\n

6. For politeness with\u00a0querer<\/em><\/h3>\n

The imperfect subjunctive helps you express sentiments like “I would like…” using the verb querer\u00a0<\/em>(to want).<\/p>\n

It makes your requests sound more polite and is an excellent substitute for the more straightforward Spanish command form<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Quisiera<\/strong> dirigir el grupo para este proyecto. <\/em>\u2014 I would like to lead the group for this project.<\/p>\n

It’s important to note that this is\u00a0only with the verb\u00a0querer: <\/em><\/strong>when using other verbs, you should use the conditional<\/a> to make polite requests. For example\u00a0Me gustaria una naranja\u00a0<\/em>(I would like an orange), or Me encantar\u00eda salir con \u00e9l<\/em> (I’d love to go out with him).<\/p>\n

7. Current opinions on past events<\/h3>\n

The imperfect subjunctive comes in handy when you remember something that happened in the past and still have feelings or opinions about it now.<\/p>\n

It’s great for making reflections and complaints.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

Quer\u00eda que compraras<\/strong> flores para mi cumplea\u00f1os.\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 I wanted you to buy flowers for my birthday.<\/p>\n

Dudo que hiciera<\/strong> tanto fr\u00edo como dijiste. <\/em>\u2014 I doubt it was as cold as you said.<\/p>\n

How to Practice the Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive<\/h2>\n

It can be difficult to understand when to use the imperfect subjunctive. If you\u2019re struggling with this, using other resources can help you grasp it more quickly.<\/p>\n