4.6: Conditional and Past Subjunctive
- Page ID
- 164425
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El condicional y el pasado del subjuntivo
Consider the conditional and the past subjunctive as best friends. They are usually together. The conditional tense is hard to use
without the past subjunctive.
When phrases or verbs that trigger the subjunctive are in conditional tense, the subordinate clause must use the past subjunctive, after the word "que". Apart from the typical phrases that trigger the subjunctive, the conditional and the past subjunctive are used in "si" clauses ("if" clauses).
Fórmula (frases que se siguen del subjuntivo)
Main clause in conditional + que + subordinate clause in past subjunctive
Ejemplos
Sentences using verbs and expressions that trigger the subjunctive:
- Desearía que estuvieras aquí. (I wish you were here.)
- Te recomendaría que compraras los boletos para el festival hoy. (I would recommend that you buy the tickets for the festival today.)
- Sería bueno que practicaras antes de la presentación. (It would be good if you practiced before the presentation.)
Most of the sentences that use the conditional and the past subjunctive with phrases that trigger the subjunctive do not translate directly to English. Sometimes, the tenses used in English will be different, as in the first example where "desearía" translates as "I wish", using the present tense. On the second example, the sentence structure is changed using an "if" clause in English. This change is very common when using the conditional and the past subjunctive with expressions that trigger the subjunctive. In English, the past subjunctive is usually translated as the past tense.
Práctica 1
Fórmulas adicionales (si...)
- Si + past subjunctive, + conditional*
- Conditional + si + past subjunctive*
*The word “si” must be followed by the past subjunctive regardless of the order of the clauses. You can invert the order of the clauses without affecting the meaning, but the past subjunctive mus always go after the word "si", the other clause will be in conditional.
Ejemplos
"Si" clauses using the conditional and the past subjunctive:
- Si fuera famosa, iría a fiestas muy importantes. (If I were famous, I would go to very important parties.)
- Iría a fiestas muy importantes si fuera famosa. (I would go to very important parties if I were famous.)