Chapter 39 · B2
El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
Might help first: Ch. 27 — El Pretérito Indefinido (Preterite): Irregular Verbs, Ch. 38 — El Presente de Subjuntivo: When to Use It, Ch. 34 — El Condicional Simple (a suggestion, never a requirement)
The imperfect subjunctive is the subjunctive mood’s answer to a simple question: what happens when a subjunctive trigger — a wish, a doubt, an emotional reaction, a recommendation — itself lands in the past? Chapter 38 built the machinery for triggering the subjunctive in the present tense; this chapter carries that exact same machinery one step back in time, using a new set of forms built not from the present tense at all, but from a tense you already know well: the preterite. Along the way, this chapter also hands you the single most deferential way to phrase a request in Spanish — quisiera — and opens the door, just a crack, onto the hypothetical si-clauses that Chapter 41 covers in full.
Core Pattern: One Stem for Every Verb, No Exceptions
Start from the preterite’s ellos/ellas/ustedes form
B1Every imperfect subjunctive form in Spanish — regular or irregular — is built the same way, with no separate irregular list to memorize: take the verb’s preterite ellos/ellas/ustedes form (Chapters 26–27), drop the -ron ending, and attach a new set of personal endings to what’s left. Because this stem already comes straight from the preterite, it already carries whatever irregularity the preterite has — you’re not learning a second irregular pattern, you’re reusing the first one.
hablar → hablaron → hablara
to speak → they spoke → (that) I/he/she/you spoke
Two ending sets, same meaning: -ra and -se
B1Spanish gives every imperfect subjunctive verb two complete, fully interchangeable sets of endings. Both mean exactly the same thing — there’s no meaning difference to learn here, only a style/register one (below).
The same two ending sets attach to -er and -ir verbs too, off their own preterite stem: comer → comieron → comiera/comiese; vivir → vivieron → viviera/viviese.
Si comiera más despacio, no le dolería el estómago.
If he ate more slowly, his stomach wouldn't hurt.
-ra or -se: a real regional choice
B1Building Out: Irregular Verbs Inherit, They Don’t Reinvent
The preterite’s irregularity carries over unchanged
B1Because the imperfect subjunctive stem comes directly from the preterite ellos/ellas/ustedes form, any verb that’s irregular in the preterite is irregular here in exactly the same way — and, unlike present-tense stem-changing verbs, the irregularity spreads to every form, nosotros and vosotros included.
As with the preterite stems themselves (Chapter 27) and the future’s irregular stems (Chapter 33), there’s no boot outline to draw here: tuvie- is irregular in all six forms at once, not just four of them, so the grid stays flat.
Si tuvieras más paciencia, esto sería más fácil.
If you had more patience, this would be easier.
The same shortcut extends to every irregular verb you already know from Chapter 27: fueron → fuera (ir and ser share this form, disambiguated by context exactly the way fui is); dijeron → dijera (the j-stem swallows the following i, the same spelling logic that gives you dijeron rather than dijieron); trajeron → trajera; pudieron → pudiera; supieron → supiera; vinieron → viniera; and pidieron → pidiera, durmieron → durmiera (the -ir stem-changers from Chapters 23/27, carrying their vowel change straight through).
Ojalá fuera tan fácil como parece.
I wish it were as easy as it seems.
Core Uses of the Imperfect Subjunctive
Past-tense subjunctive triggers: the same WEIRDO categories, shifted back
B2Chapter 38’s WEIRDO triggers — wishes, emotion, impersonal expressions, recommendations, doubt, ojalá — don’t stop requiring the subjunctive just because the sentence moves into the past. What changes is which subjunctive tense the subordinate clause needs: a present-tense trigger pairs with the present subjunctive, and a past-tense trigger pairs with the imperfect subjunctive instead.
Quiero que vengas a la fiesta.
I want you to come to the party.
Quería que vinieras a la fiesta.
I wanted you to come to the party.
The pattern holds across every WEIRDO category, not just wishes:
Dudaba que fuera verdad.
I doubted it was true.
Me alegré de que ganaras el premio.
I was glad you won the prize.
Era necesario que llegáramos a tiempo.
It was necessary that we arrive on time.
Nos recomendó que estudiáramos más.
She recommended that we study more.
Quisiera: the softest way to ask for something
A2Chapter 34 introduced querría — the conditional of querer — as a softened, more polite alternative to the blunt quiero. Quisiera, the imperfect subjunctive of that same verb, pushes that softening instinct one notch further, trading the conditional for the subjunctive as its grammatical base.
Quisiera reservar una mesa para dos.
I would like to reserve a table for two.
Quisiera preguntarle algo, si no le importa.
I would like to ask you something, if you don't mind.
Nuance, Exceptions & Contrast
A first glimpse of hypothetical si-clauses
B2The imperfect subjunctive has one more job, and it’s a big one: it’s the required form inside the si-clause of a hypothetical-present condition.
Si tuviera dinero, viajaría más.
If I had money, I would travel more.
-ra’s other job: a literary stand-in for había
C1In formal and literary Castellano — especially journalism and legal writing — the -ra form (never -se) occasionally does indicative work, standing in for the pluperfect había + participle inside a relative clause, with no subjunctive meaning at all.
El equipo que ganara el campeonato del año anterior no pudo clasificarse esta vez.
The team that had won the previous year's championship couldn't qualify this time.
Common trap: the imperfect subjunctive isn’t a stand-alone “past tense”
B2Unlike the preterite or imperfect, the imperfect subjunctive never appears just because an action happened in the past — it appears only when something else in the sentence (a WEIRDO trigger, or a hypothetical si) independently demands the subjunctive mood. A past action with no such trigger stays in the preterite, imperfect, or pluperfect, exactly as Chapters 26–31 already taught.
Ayer hablé con mi jefe.
Yesterday I talked with my boss.
Bringing It Together
Mi madre siempre quería que yo estudiara medicina, y dudaba que fuera feliz haciendo otra cosa. Un día le dije: 'Quisiera hablar contigo de mis planes.' Si tuviera que resumirlo en una frase, le diría que prefiero ser feliz a tener un buen sueldo.
My mother always wanted me to study medicine, and doubted I'd be happy doing anything else. One day I told her: 'I would like to talk to you about my plans.' If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I'd tell her I'd rather be happy than have a good salary.
Whenever a subjunctive trigger sits in a past tense, or you reach for the gentlest possible way to make a request, or you build a si-clause about something that isn’t really true right now — the imperfect subjunctive, built off nothing more exotic than the preterite stem you already know, is the form to reach for.
Where to Go Next
- Chapter 37, El Presente de Subjuntivo: Formation and Chapter 38, El Presente de Subjuntivo: When to Use It — the present-tense subjunctive this chapter’s forms and triggers directly parallel, one tense earlier.
- Chapter 26 and Chapter 27, El Pretérito Indefinido — the preterite forms this entire chapter’s stems are built from.
- Chapter 34, El Condicional Simple — querría, the conditional-based softening alternative that quisiera pushes one step further.
- Chapter 40, Compound Subjunctive — haya and hubiera/hubiese, the compound forms that extend this chapter’s logic to completed actions.
- Chapter 41, Conditional Sentences (Si Clauses) — the full, systematic treatment of the si-clause shape only previewed here.
Ready to practice?
9 exercises · conjugation-grid, multiple-choice, fill-blank…