Imperfect Subjunctive II

Notes:

1. The written lesson is below.
2. Links to quizzes, tests, etc. are to the left.

In Imperfect Subjunctive I, you learned the difference between Present Subjunctive and Imperfect Subjunctive as two different tenses within the subjunctive mood.

You also learned that the imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood is used to express the same subjectivity as the present subjunctive, but in the past.

In this lesson you will begin to learn how to conjugate verbs in the Imperfect Subjunctive. It is important to know that in Spanish there are two complete sets (forms) of conjugations in the Imperfect Subjunctive tense:

• -A form
• -SE form

Both are used equally in Spain, and it is up to the speaker to choose one over the other one.

In some Latin American countries only the -A form is used in the Spoken Spanish, while the -SE form is mainly used in literary work.

-A Form of Imperfect Subjunctive

You can conjugate in the -A form of the Imperfect Subjunctive by following these steps:

1. Take the third person plural of the preterite form of any -ar, -er and -ir verbs
2. Drop the -on ending to find the root
3. Add the following endings to that root:

Here are some examples of using the steps described above to obtain the Imperfect Subjunctive (-A form) for each of the three families or verbs.

Cantar – to sing

1. 3rd person plural of the preterite of cantar is cantaron
2. We remove the -on ending, which leaves us with the root: cantar
3. Now we can add the appropriate ending depending on the subject:
   

   yo cantara
   tú cantaras
   él/ella/Ud. cantara
   nosotros cantáramos
   vosotros cantarais
   ellos/ellas/Uds. cantaran

Correr – to run (irregular)

1. 3rd person plural of the preterite of correr is corrieron
2. We remove the -on ending, which leaves us with the root: corrier
3. Now we can add the appropriate ending depending on the subject:
   

   yo corriera
   tú corrieras
   él/ella/Ud. corriera
   nosotros corriéramos
   vosotros corriérais
   ellos/ellas/Uds. corrieran

Vivir – to live (irregular)

1. 3rd person plural of the preterite of vivir is vivieron
2. We remove the -on ending, which leaves us with the root: vivier
3. Now we can add the appropriate ending depending on the subject:
   

   yo viviera
   tú vivieras
   él/ella/Ud. viviera
   nosotros viviéramos
   vosotros viviérais
   ellos/ellas/Uds. vivieran

-SE Form of Imperfect Subjunctive

You can conjugate in the -SE form of the Imperfect Subjunctive by following these steps:

1. Take the third person plural of the preterite form of any -ar, -er and -ir verbs
2. Drop the -ron ending to find the root
3. Add the following endings to that root

Here are some examples of using the steps described above to obtain the Imperfect Subjunctive (-SE form) for each of the three families or verbs.

Cantar – to sing

1. 3rd person plural of the preterite of cantar is cantaron
2. We remove the -ron ending, which leaves us with the root: canta
3. Now we can add the appropriate ending depending on the subject:
   

   yo cantase
   tú cantases
   él/ella/Ud. cantase
   nosotros cantásemos
   vosotros cantaseis
   ellos/ellas/Uds. cantasen

Correr – to run (irregular)

1. 3rd person plural of the preterite of correr is corrieron
2. We remove the -ron ending, which leaves us with the root: corrie
3. Now we can add the appropriate ending depending on the subject:
   

   yo corriese
   tú corrieses
   él/ella/Ud. corriese
   nosotros corriésemos
   vosotros corrieseis
   ellos/ellas/Uds. corriesen

Vivir- to live (irregular)

1. 3rd person plural of the preterite of vivir is vivieron
2. We remove the -ron ending, which leaves us with the root: vivier
3. Now we can add the appropriate ending depending on the subject:
   

   yo viviese
   tú vivieses
   él/ella/Ud. viviese
   nosotros viviésemos
   vosotros vivieseis
   ellos/ellas/Uds. viviesen