Pretérito Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
⚠️ Don't Let the Name Confuse You!
Despite its name, the Imperfect Subjunctive (Pretérito Imperfecto de Subjuntivo) is NOT based on the Imperfect tense (Pretérito Imperfecto). Instead, all its conjugations are based on the Pretérito Perfecto Simple (Past/Preterite). If you know how to conjugate verbs in the preterite, you're already halfway there!
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the same contexts as the present subjunctive (wishes, doubts, emotions, uncertainty), but when the main verb is in a past tense or when expressing hypothetical situations. It's also essential for certain exclusive constructions like "if" clauses and "como si" (as if).
📖 For Complete Usage Guide
Understanding when to use subjunctive is complex. We strongly recommend reviewing the General Aspects document for a comprehensive understanding of all subjunctive uses, including noun subordinates, adjective subordinates, and adverb subordinates. The imperfect subjunctive follows all the same rules, just in a past or hypothetical context.
🔑 How to Form the Imperfect Subjunctive:
Example: hablaron → habla- → hablara or hablase
📌 Two Forms, Same Meaning
The imperfect subjunctive is unique because it has two sets of conjugations: one with -RA endings and one with -SE endings. Both mean exactly the same thing and are grammatically correct. However, the -RA form is much more common in everyday Spanish, so we recommend learning and using that one.
| Pronoun | -AR verbs | -ER/-IR verbs |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | -ara | -iera |
| Tú | -aras | -ieras |
| Él/Ella/Usted | -ara | -iera |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | -áramos | -iéramos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | -arais | -ierais |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | -aran | -ieran |
| Pronoun | -AR verbs | -ER/-IR verbs |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | -ase | -iese |
| Tú | -ases | -ieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | -ase | -iese |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | -ásemos | -iésemos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | -aseis | -ieseis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | -asen | -iesen |
hablaron → habla-
| Pronoun | -RA form | -SE form |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hablara | hablase |
| Tú | hablaras | hablases |
| Él/Ella/Usted | hablara | hablase |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | habláramos | hablásemos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | hablarais | hablaseis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | hablaran | hablasen |
comieron → comie-
| Pronoun | -RA form | -SE form |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | comiera | comiese |
| Tú | comieras | comieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | comiera | comiese |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | comiéramos | comiésemos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | comierais | comieseis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | comieran | comiesen |
vivieron → vivie-
| Pronoun | -RA form | -SE form |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | viviera | viviese |
| Tú | vivieras | vivieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | viviera | viviese |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | viviéramos | viviésemos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | vivierais | vivieseis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | vivieran | viviesen |
🔗 Connection to the Preterite
Here's the good news: All irregulars in imperfect subjunctive are exactly the same as irregulars in the preterite (past tense)! If a verb has an irregular stem in the preterite, it keeps that same stem in imperfect subjunctive. Just take the ellos form from preterite, remove -ron, and add the imperfect subjunctive endings.
There are two main categories of irregular verbs in the imperfect subjunctive:
These verbs have an irregular stem from the preterite. Take the ellos form from preterite, remove -ron, and add imperfect subjunctive endings.
Preterite ellos: tuvieron → tuvie-
| Yo | tuviera / tuviese |
| Tú | tuvieras / tuvieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | tuviera / tuviese |
| Nosotros | tuviéramos / tuviésemos |
| Vosotros | tuvierais / tuvieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | tuvieran / tuviesen |
Preterite ellos: estuvieron → estuvie-
| Yo | estuviera / estuviese |
| Tú | estuvieras / estuvieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | estuviera / estuviese |
| Nosotros | estuviéramos / estuviésemos |
| Vosotros | estuvierais / estuvieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | estuvieran / estuviesen |
Preterite ellos: hicieron → hicie-
| Yo | hiciera / hiciese |
| Tú | hicieras / hicieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | hiciera / hiciese |
| Nosotros | hiciéramos / hiciésemos |
| Vosotros | hicierais / hicieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | hicieran / hiciesen |
Preterite ellos: pudieron → pudie-
| Yo | pudiera / pudiese |
| Tú | pudieras / pudieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | pudiera / pudiese |
| Nosotros | pudiéramos / pudiésemos |
| Vosotros | pudierais / pudieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | pudieran / pudiesen |
Preterite ellos: pusieron → pusie-
| Yo | pusiera / pusiese |
| Tú | pusieras / pusieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | pusiera / pusiese |
| Nosotros | pusiéramos / pusiésemos |
| Vosotros | pusierais / pusieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | pusieran / pusiesen |
Preterite ellos: supieron → supie-
| Yo | supiera / supiese |
| Tú | supieras / supieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | supiera / supiese |
| Nosotros | supiéramos / supiésemos |
| Vosotros | supierais / supieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | supieran / supiesen |
Preterite ellos: vinieron → vinie-
| Yo | viniera / viniese |
| Tú | vinieras / vinieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | viniera / viniese |
| Nosotros | viniéramos / viniésemos |
| Vosotros | vinierais / vinieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | vinieran / viniesen |
Preterite ellos: quisieron → quisie-
| Yo | quisiera / quisiese |
| Tú | quisieras / quisieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | quisiera / quisiese |
| Nosotros | quisiéramos / quisiésemos |
| Vosotros | quisierais / quisieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | quisieran / quisiesen |
Plus: andar (anduvie-), conducir (conduje-), producir (produje-), traducir (traduje-), and others.
These verbs also follow the pattern from preterite:
Preterite ellos: fueron → fue-
| Yo | fuera / fuese |
| Tú | fueras / fueses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | fuera / fuese |
| Nosotros | fuéramos / fuésemos |
| Vosotros | fuerais / fueseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | fueran / fuesen |
⚠️ Ser and Ir share the exact same conjugation!
Preterite ellos: dijeron → dije-
| Yo | dijera / dijese |
| Tú | dijeras / dijeses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | dijera / dijese |
| Nosotros | dijéramos / dijésemos |
| Vosotros | dijerais / dijeseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | dijeran / dijesen |
Preterite ellos: trajeron → traje-
| Yo | trajera / trajese |
| Tú | trajeras / trajeses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | trajera / trajese |
| Nosotros | trajéramos / trajésemos |
| Vosotros | trajerais / trajeseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | trajeran / trajesen |
Verbs ending in -ducir follow the same pattern (e.g., conducir → condujera).
🦠 Important Difference from Preterite!
In the preterite, these verbs only changed in the third person (él/ella and ellos/ellas). But in the imperfect subjunctive, because we base everything on the ellos form, the irregularity spreads to ALL forms! This actually makes it easier because the pattern is consistent throughout the conjugation.
These -IR verbs have "e → i" in the preterite third person. In imperfect subjunctive, this "i" appears in ALL forms:
Preterite ellos: pidieron → pidie-
| Yo | pidiera / pidiese |
| Tú | pidieras / pidieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | pidiera / pidiese |
| Nosotros | pidiéramos / pidiésemos |
| Vosotros | pidierais / pidieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | pidieran / pidiesen |
Preterite ellos: sintieron → sintie-
| Yo | sintiera / sintiese |
| Tú | sintieras / sintieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | sintiera / sintiese |
| Nosotros | sintiéramos / sintiésemos |
| Vosotros | sintierais / sintieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | sintieran / sintiesen |
Also: servir, vestir, repetir, seguir, conseguir, preferir, mentir, reír, sonreír, elegir, medir, competir, and others.
These two -IR verbs have "o → u" in the preterite third person. In imperfect subjunctive, this "u" appears in ALL forms:
Preterite ellos: durmieron → durmie-
| Yo | durmiera / durmiese |
| Tú | durmieras / durmieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | durmiera / durmiese |
| Nosotros | durmiéramos / durmiésemos |
| Vosotros | durmierais / durmieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | durmieran / durmiesen |
Preterite ellos: murieron → murie-
| Yo | muriera / muriese |
| Tú | murieras / murieses |
| Él/Ella/Usted | muriera / muriese |
| Nosotros | muriéramos / muriésemos |
| Vosotros | murierais / murmieseis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | murieran / muriesen |
⚠️ These are the ONLY two verbs with this pattern!
Apart from all the normal subjunctive uses (which you can review in the General Aspects document), the imperfect subjunctive has two very important exclusive uses that you'll encounter constantly:
The phrase "como si" (as if) ALWAYS requires imperfect subjunctive, regardless of the tense of the main verb. This is one of the most common uses of imperfect subjunctive in everyday Spanish.
Habla como si supiera todo.
He speaks as if he knew everything.
Me trata como si fuera un niño.
He/She treats me as if I were a child.
Gasta dinero como si tuviera millones.
He/She spends money as if he/she had millions.
Se comporta como si no pasara nada.
He/She behaves as if nothing were happening.
This is one of the most important conditional structures in Spanish. When you want to express a hypothetical "if" situation in the past or present (contrary to fact), you use imperfect subjunctive after "si"and conditional (would) in the main clause.
Si + imperfect subjunctive→Conditional (would)
Si tuviera dinero, compraría una casa.
If I had money, I would buy a house.
Si estudiara más, aprobaría el examen.
If I studied more, I would pass the exam.
Si fuera tú, no lo haría.
If I were you, I wouldn't do it.
Si pudiera volar, viajaría por el mundo.
If I could fly, I would travel around the world.
💡 Note: The order can be reversed: "Compraría una casa si tuviera dinero" means the same thing!
📜 A Journey Through Latin
The -RA form has a fascinating history that explains why it's more versatile than the -SE form. It evolved through the following path:
Because of this evolution, the -RA form can sometimes substitute for conditional or even pluscuamperfecto indicativo in very rare, literary contexts. This is especially common with certain verbs like:
⚠️ Why -SE Doesn't Work This Way
The -SE form has been the original imperfect subjunctive since Latin and never went through this evolution. Therefore, it ONLY works as subjunctive and cannot substitute for conditional or pluscuamperfecto indicativo. This is another reason why -RA is more commonly used in modern Spanish!
The imperfect subjunctive is one of the most useful tenses in Spanish, but mastering when to use it requires practice in real conversations. A tutor can help you understand the nuances and use it naturally.