4.4: Past Subjunctive

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Jan 3, 2023
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- 4.3.1: Practice Preterite vs. Imperfect
- 4.4.1: Practice Past Subjunctive

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Pasado del subjuntivo

The past subjunctive has the same uses of the present subjunctive, but it refers to the past. It is used to express will and wishes, emotions or reactions, recommendations and requests, doubt and denial, and nonexistence in the past. It is also used with impersonal expressions, in other words, verbal phrases that are not conjugated to a specific subject.

Fórmula

The structure of the past subjunctive is the same as the formula of the present subjunctive, except that the verb in the main clause needs to be conjugated in preterite or imperfect, and the verb in the subordinate clause must be conjugated in past subjunctive.

main clause in preterite or imperfect + que + subordinate clause in past subjunctive

Decide the tense in the first clause by following the general rules to use preterite and imperfect. If the context refers to an event that occurred once, use the preterite, but if it happened multiple times, then the imperfect must be used.

Ejemplos

Mi padre me recomendó que estudiara para el examen final. (My father recommended that I study for the final exam. - He recommended once.)
Mi padre me recomendaba que estudiara para los exámenes. (My father used to recommend that I study for my exams. - He recommended multiple times.)

Práctica 1

Conjugaciones

All verbs in the past subjunctive have regular conjugations. However, the conjugation process starts with the preterite, which has some irregular verbs; thus, it is very important to know the preterite of the verbs used in past subjunctive.

Follow these steps to conjugate all verbs in past subjunctive:

Conjugate the verb in the preterite of "ellos".
Drop the ending "-on".
Add a new ending: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -ais, -an.

All verbs in the preterite of "ellos" end in "-on", regardles if they are regular or irregular. Follow this process with all verbs.

Ejemplos

Past Subjunctive Conjugations
Infinitivo	Pretérito: ellos	Yo	Tú	Usted/él/ella	Nosotros	Vosotros	Ustedes/ellos
presentar	presentaron	presenara	presentaras	presentara	presentáramos*	presentarais	presentaran
almorzar	almorzaron	almorzara	almorzaras	almorzara	almorzáramos*	almorzarais	almorzaran
beber	bebieron	bebiera	bebieras	bebiera	bebiéramos*	bebierais	bebieran
tener	tuvieron	tuviera	tuvieras	tuviera	tuviéramos*	tuvierais	tuvieran
vivir	vivieron	viviera	vivieras	viviera	viviéramos*	vivierais	vivieran
pedir	pidieron	pidiera	pidieras	pidiera	pidiéramos*	pidierais	pidieran
ser	fueron	fuera	fueras	fuera	fuéramos*	fuerais	fueran

*All conjugations of "nosotros" need an accent mark on the vowel before the "-r-" on "-áramos" or "-éramos".

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Ejemplos

Práctica 1

Ejemplos

Práctica 2

Pasado del subjuntivo

Fórmula

Ejemplos

Práctica 1

Conjugaciones

Ejemplos

Práctica 2

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