THE past pluscuamperfecto in subjunctiveit is a compound tense that expresses unreal facts or actions prior to the moment of speech. this past tense highlights the unreality of the actions it designates, due to the fact that they are in a finished time. It can be used in concessive clauses, desiderative clauses (which express desires or wishes) and in main clauses of conditional clauses.
When we pass sentences from the direct to the indirect style - reproducing the speech of others or our own in an oral or written way by means of an introductory verb followed by the conjunction what -, The plumperfecto of subjunctive replaces the perfect past tense composed of subjunctive.
THEpast pluscuamperfecto in subjunctiveis formed with the auxiliary verb knowconjugate in the past tense imperfect of subjunctive and the main verb in the participle.
Read too: Pluscuamperfecto of callsign — verb tense that expresses actions or facts already completed
Summary about past tense pluscuamperfecto of indicative
Expresses a past action before another action, equally past.
Expresses unreality.
It can be used in concessive clauses, desiderative clauses - which express desires or wishes - and in main clauses of conditional clauses.
It is formed with the auxiliary verb know conjugate in the past tense imperfect of subjunctive and the main verb in the participle.
In indirect style, it replaces the perfect past tense composed of subjunctive.
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How to use the Preterit Pluscuamperfecto of subjunctive?
Indicate past actions prior to another past:
I didn't believe that Ana hubiera / hubiese llegado.
(I didn't believe that Ana had arrived.)
Note that, in the example, the action expressed by hubiera/-se llegado is prior to that indicated by the verb creí.
When I lost the clock, I was upset that Ana was always in the hubiera/-if buried.
(When I looked at the clock, it bothered me that Ana still hasn't had arrived.)
concessive prayers
aunque me paid hubieran, would not have seen that party.
(Even though had paid me, would not have seen that game)
Desiderative prayers
Take me a cuatro in the exam. hello hubiera/-if studiedbut.
(I got four on the test. I wish I had studied most)
Main clauses of past hypothetical conditional clauses
Yes hubiera/-if could, would have gone with Maria.
(if could have, would have gone with Maria.)
OJO!
Non-toggle:
The shapes hubiera/hubiese do not alternate in the main clause of unreal conditionals in the past. In these clauses, only the forms ending in -frog or the compound conditional (had).
If it is known before, not me habria/hubiera worried. (It doesn't say *worried hubiese)
(If I had known before, no would have worried.)
Indirect-style usage:
Replaces the perfect past tense composed of subjunctive.
I feel that not you hayan called to the fiesta. (perfect past tense composed of subjunctive)
Ana felt that she did not want me hubieran calledto the fiesta. (pluscuamperfecto of subjunctive)
(Ana regretted that she didn't had called meto the party.)
Read too:Subjunctive present in Spanish — know how to use this tense
Formation of the Preterit pluscuamperfecto of subjunctive
THE pluscuamperfecto is formed by verb know conjugate in the imperfect of subjunctive and a main verb in the participle.
Pronoun |
HABER verb in subjunctive imperfect |
Main verb in participle |
yo |
hubiera / hubiese |
sung spoken read eaten order lost |
you/you |
Hubieras / Hubieses |
|
he/she/usted |
hubiera / hubiese |
|
nosotros |
hubieramos / hubiésemos |
|
you (the) |
hubierals / hubieseis |
|
ellos (as)/ustedes |
hubieran / hubiesen |
irregular verbsare you nothis tense are only those who are already in the participle. Here is a list of the most common:
decide — dicho
to die — dead
resolve — resuelto
back — turn
do — hecho
poner — puesto
break — broken
see — seen
scribe — writing
to die — dead
Know more:Spanish defective verbs — verbs that have incomplete conjugation
Exercises solved on past Pluscuamperfecto of subjunctive
question 1
Complete with the correct conjugation of verbs between parentheses in the pluscuamperfecto of subjunctive:
a) It didn't seem to me that Juan ___________ (to be) in the school.
b) Si tú me lo ___________ (decir), yo _________ (hablar) with él.
c) I wouldn't have gone to that fiesta, even __________ me (invite).
d) Carolina le molestó that Juan no le ___________ (taste) la fiesta.
e) The oral presentation was a disaster, ojalá me ______________ (prepare) better.
Resolution:
a) hubiera/se state
b) hubieras/-ses dicho/hubiera hablado
c) hubieran/-sen invited
d) hubiera/-if liked
e) hubiera/be prepared
question 2
Look at the next fragment of the song If you haven't gone, del Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solís.
There is nothing more difficult than living without you
Sufriendo waiting to see you
El frio de mi body asks for you
Y no where are you?
If you haven't gone, you would be so happy
In the fragment, the verse “if you haven't gone away, it would be tan happy” expresses
a) the wish that the beloved person be studied with the lyrical one.
b) the impossibility for the beloved person to return.
c) a possible hecho.
d) an unfinished action.
e) a concession.
Resolution:
Alternative A
The verse under analysis expresses that if the loved one had not left (she left), the I lyric could be happy. In this sense, it expresses a desire of the lyrical self. Therefore, the correct alternative is the letter A.
By Renata Martins Gornattes
Spanish teacher
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
GORNATTES, Renata Martins. "Pluscuamperfecto of subjunctive"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/espanhol/pluscuamperfecto-de-subjuntivo.htm. Accessed on December 15, 2021.
