IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE = Era necesario que esa tarde hiciéramos la compra para el día siguiente. → It is necessary that we do tomorrow’s grocery shopping this afternoon. PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE = Es necesario que esta tarde hagamos la compra para mañana.

In particular, it is used after the expression era (or fue) + adjective + que. In terms of its uses, as a rule the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish indicates an action in the past in the same instances where the subjunctive would be employed in the present. Hacer (to do/make) → hicieron → hicie_ → hiciera, hicieras, hiciera… Ver (to see) → vieron → vie_ → viese, vieses, viese… Ser (to be) / ir (to go) → fueron → fue_ → fuera, fueras, fuera… Regardless of the form, should the third person plural (ellos/ellas = they) of the preterite tense be irregular, the imperfect subjunctive form takes the same base. Indeed, following the same rule as above, the endings below can be added.Īlthough some may argue the former set is more used in daily speech whilst the latter is considered more literary, the choice of endings does not really have much to do with register or sociolect but certainly offer more variety in both speaking and writing. Uniquely, the imperfect subjunctive presents an alternative set of endings, like no other Spanish tense. To form the Spanish imperfect subjunctive, take the third person plural of the preterite tense (ellos/ellas), remove the final –ron and add these endings: The imperfect subjunctive is a past form of the verb which is very frequently used in Spanish, although its English equivalent has nearly disappeared in our lifetime.

Subjunctive spanish endings