Home / Intermediate /
Intermediate Level
3. The Subjunctive in the Past Tense
So far we have discussed how to use the subjunctive in the present tense.
This works the same way in the future tense:
Ella quiere que usted venga con nosotros – She wants you to come with us
Ella querrá que usted venga con nosotros – She will want you to come with us
As you can see, the future takes the same subjunctive form as the present. The subjunctive does however, take a different conjugation in the past tense. Let’s take a look at how these work for regular ‘ar’, ‘er’ and ‘ir’ verbs:
Regular ‘ar’ verb - TRABAJAR |
Regular ‘er’ verb - COMER |
Regular ‘ir’ verb - SALIR |
Yo trabajara |
Yo comiera |
Yo saliera |
Tu trabajaras |
Tu comieras |
Tu salieras |
Él/Ella/Usted trabajara |
Él/Ella/Usted comiera |
Él/Ella/Usted saliera |
Nosotros trabajáramos |
Nosotros comiéramos |
Nosotros saliéramos |
Ellos/Ellas trabajaran |
Ellos/Ellas comieran |
Ellos/Ellas salieran |
Click here to listen
Some verbs have a slightly irregular conjugation in the past subjunctive form. These are called stem changing verbs.
VERB |
CONJUGATIONS |
Dar – to give |
Diera, dieras, diéramos, dieran |
Poder – to be able |
Pudiera, pudieras, pudiéramos, pudieran |
Pedir – to ask |
Pidiera, pidieras, pidiéramos, pidieran |
Sentir – to feel |
Sintiera, sintieras, sintiéramos, sintieran |
Morir – to die |
Muriera, murieras, muriéramos, murieran |
Venir – to come |
Viniera, vinieras, viéramos, vinieran |
Querer – to want |
Quisiera, quisieras, quisiéramos, quisieran |
Hacer – to do, to make |
Hiciera, hicieras, hiciéramos, hicieran |
Conocer – to know, to be familiar with |
Conociera, conocieras, conociéramos, conocieran |
Caber – to fit |
Cupiera, cupieras, cupiéramos, cupieran |
Saber – to know |
Supiera, supieras, supiéramos, supieran |
Poner – to put |
Pusiera, pusieras, pusiéramos, pusieran |
Tener – to have |
Tuviera, tuvieras, tuviéramos, tuvieran |
Ver – to see |
Viera, vieras, viéramos, vieran |
Estar – to be |
Estuviera, estuvieras, estuviéramos, estuvieran |
Haber – to have |
Hubiera, hubieras, hubiéramos, hubieran |
Andar – to walk |
Anduviera, anduvieras, anduviéramos, anduvieran |
Leer – to read |
Leyera, leyeras, leyéramos, leyeran |
Caer – to fall |
Cayera, cayeras, cayéramos, cayeran |
Construir – to construct |
Construyera, construyeras, construyéramos, construyeran |
Oir – to listen |
Oyera, oyeras, oyéramos, oyeran |
Conducir – to drive |
Condujera, condujeras, condujéramos, condujeran |
Traducir – to translate |
Tradujera, tradujeras, tradujéramos, tradujeran |
Producir – to produce |
Produjera, produjeras, produjéramos, produjera |
Traer – to bring |
Trajera, trajeras, trajéramos, trajeran |
Decir – to say |
Dijera, dijeras, dijéramos, dijeran |
Click here to listen
The verbs 'ir' and 'ser'
The irregular verbs ‘ir’ – ‘to go’ and ‘ser’ – ‘to be’ have the same conjugation in the past subjunctive – fuera, fueras, fueramos, fueran
Let’s take a look at a few examples using the past subjunctive:
El maestro exigió que todos fueran a la reunión – The teacher demanded that everyone go to the meeting/be at the meeting
Yo quería que ella se sintiera mejor – I wanted her to feel better
Era necesario que yo estuviera con mi familia – It was necessary for me to be with my family
Llegué mas temprano para que pudiéramos hacer algo por ellos – I arrived early so that we could do something for them
Es posible que ellos salieran por la otra salida – It’s possible that they left through the other exit
El jefe mandó que trabajáramos este fin de semana – The boss ordered us to work this weekend
Mis padres pidieron que yo limpiara la cocina antes de empezar la película – My parents asked me to clean the kitchen, before starting the movie
You can use the past subjunctive when you wish for something in order to be able to achieve something.
Si yo fuera más joven, lo habría hecho – If I were younger, I would have done it
Si ella tuviera más dinero, viajaría a París – If she had more money, she would travel to France
Si yo hubiera sabido que tú estarías aquí, te habría traído un regalo – If I knew you would be here, I would have brought you a gift
Ojalá supiera lo que le pasó a David – If only I knew what happened to David
Ojalá tuviera dos semanas más the vacaciones – If only I had 2 more weeks of vacation
You can also use ‘haber’ to form the present perfect subjunctive or the pluperfect subjunctive
Me alegro que hayas llegado – I am glad that you have arrived
Esperamos que ustedes ya hayan comido – We hope you have already eaten
Si yo hubiera tenido más tiempo, habría visitado a Carlos – If I had had more time, I would have visited Carlos
Si me hubieras traído algo especial, te habría perdonado – If you had brought me something special, I would have forgiven you
Él quería que hubieran llegado antes – He wanted them to have arrived before
Yo habría preferido que me lo hubieras dicho antes – I would have prefered it if you had told me before