Reference · module 28
The subjunctive in the past
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Matching the tenses
Put the subjunctive in the right tense.
- A past main verb pulls the subjunctive back with it: Quería que vinieras. Not Quería que vengas.
- A present or future main verb keeps the present subjunctive: Quiero que vengas. Te pediré que vengas.
- The exception is a truth that still holds: Me dijo que estudiara medicina describes then; Me dijo que sea puntual can point at now.
The mistake you are about to make
Quería que vengas.
Quería que vinieras.
The present subjunctive was learned first and sticks. A past main verb pulls it back: quería que vinieras.
Hubiera venido
Talk about what did not happen.
- hubiera plus a participle is the mood for what never happened: Si hubiera sabido, habría venido.
- The other half takes habría plus a participle. In speech many people use hubiera on both sides, and that is accepted.
- It carries regret on its own: Ojalá hubiera estudiado más. Debería haber llamado.
The mistake you are about to make
Si habría sabido, habría venido.
Si hubiera sabido, habría venido.
Both halves are unreal, so the conditional goes into both. After si Spanish takes hubiera.
Como si and ni que
Compare with something that is not the case.
- como si always takes the past subjunctive, whatever the main verb: Habla como si fuera el jefe.
- ni que does the same with a sting: ¡Ni que fueras millonario! It rejects what somebody just implied.
- por si takes the indicative in speech: Llévate el paraguas por si llueve. por si acaso stands alone.
The mistake you are about to make
Habla como si es el jefe.
Habla como si fuera el jefe.
"As if he is the boss" is common in English speech. Como si always takes the past subjunctive: fuera.
Wishes and reproaches
Say what should have happened.
- deberías haber plus a participle is the reproach: Deberías haberme avisado. It is softer than a direct accusation.
- podrías haber says the chance existed: Podrías haber llamado. It names the possibility that was not taken.
- tuve que means I had to and did; tenía que means I was supposed to and may not have. The tense carries the difference.
The mistake you are about to make
Deberías avisarme.
Deberías haberme avisado.
"You should have told me" needs have in English as well, and it still gets dropped. Deberías haber avisado.