Imperfecto del Subjuntivo (Imperfect Subjunctive Tense)

¡Buenos! 

Hey, if you thought that using the subjunctive in the present tense of Spanish was a pain, get ready to cut your teeth on the use of the subjunctive in the past tense.  Yes, it is really a thing.  In English, for example, we state in the present tense:

I want you to clean the kitchen.  

This can also be expressed in the past tense: 

I wanted you to clean the kitchen.  

English makes it easy in that the only verb changed to the preterit (past) tense is the subject (independent) clause of the sentence.  The subjunctive verb in the predicate (dependent) clause doesn't change at all, and this is pretty universal in English.  In Spanish, however, we are taxed with using an entirely different conjugation set for verbs in the dependent clause of a past tense sentence.  This is what is known as the imperfecto del subjuntivo, or the imperfect subjunctive tense.  

Let's look at a basic sentence in the present tense in Spanish that employs the subjunctive:

Yo quiero que tú limpies la cocina.  I want you to clean the kitchen.  

Notice that the contractive "que" is utilized here to join both the independent (indicative) and the dependent (subjunctive) clauses.  It is easier for an English speaker to understand the subjunctive by rephrasing the above example like this: 

I want THAT you clean the kitchen.  

In this manner, you can see how the first part (I want...) is indicative, in that, it is based in reality, and the second part (...you clean the kitchen) is not based in reality.  

Now that we're done with that review of present-tense subjunctive, let's look at the imperfect subjunctive, which is just the same sentence taking place in the past.  To do this, we must conjugate the dependent (subjunctive) verb in an entirely different manner.  In order to do this, the first step is to recall the preterit tense 3rd person plural indicative.  We'll continue to use the above example to develop our understanding of this grammar topic.  So, the verb we want to convert to the imperfect subjunctive is limpiar (to clean).  

The preterit tense third person plural indicative is limpiaron.  Next, we are going to drop the suffix of this conjugation, which is -aron.  We are left with the root upon which we will build: 

limpi-

Then, we will add whichever of the modified suffices that follows, depending on the subject used and the intended meaning of the sentence.  Observe: 

yo: -ara

tú: -aras

él/ella/Ud.: -ara

nosotros/-as: -áramos

vosotros/-as: -arais

ellos/ellas/Uds.: -aran

So, ultimately we can then create sentences using all of the conjugation.  Notice how the independent clause is in the imperfect or the past tense in order to necessitate the imperfect subjunctive.  You will also notice that, in order to maintain the penultimate stressed syllable, the nosotros form carries an accent with it:

Ella quería que yo limpiara la cocina.  She wanted me to clean the kitchen. or She wanted that I clean the kitchen.  

Yo quería que tú limpiaras la cocina.  I wanted you to clean the kitchen.  

Mi madre quería que mi hermano limpiara la cocina.  My mom wanted my brother to clean the kitchen.

Ellos querían que limpiáramos la cocina.  They wanted us to clean the kitchen.

Yo quería que vosotros limpiarais la cocina.  I wanted you all to clean the kitchen.

El jefe quería que ellos limpiaran la cocina.  The boss wanted them to clean the kitchen.  

The above example shows how an -ar verb changes to form the imperfect subjunctive, but the good news is that the same conjugation applies to -er/-ir verbs even for irregular and special-case verbs.  Instead of dropping the -aron, though, drop the -eron, and finally, add the following: 

yo: -era

tú: -eras

él/ella/Ud.: -era

nosotros: -éramos

vosotros: -erais

ellos/ellas/Uds.: -eran

For the verb hacer (to do, to make), the conjugation is arrived at like this: 

hacer

3rd person plural preterit: hicieron

hici-

yo: hiciera

tú: hicieras

él/ella/Ud.: hiciera

nosotros: hiciéramos

vosotros: hicierais

ellos/ellas/Uds.: hicieran

El profesor nos dijo que hiciéramos el proyecto.  The professor told us to do the project.

Here's the -ir verb, pedir (to ask for):

pedir

pidieron

pidi-

yo: pidiera

tú: pidieras

él/ella/Ud.: pidiera

nosotros: pidiéramos

vosotros: pidierais

ellos/ellas/Uds.: pidieran

Mi esposa me recomendó que le pidiera al mesero una servilleta.  My wife recommended to me that I ask the waiter for a napkin.  

Did you know?! There is an alternative, albeit rarely used conjugation for the imperfect subjunctive.  However, we'll broach that one in the next blog.  ¡Buena suerte con tus estudios!