HOME
María Mena's Homepage for Spanish

SPN 111
SPA111 review

SPN 112
practice chapter 6
practice chapter 7
practice chapter 8
practice chapter 9
practice chapter 10

SPN 211
practice chapter 11
practice chapter 12
practice chapter 13
practice chapter 14
practice chapter 15
Review

 

Online self - check practice exercises for chapter 15

THE IMPERFECT (PAST) SUBJUNCTIVE
Formation:
Go to 3ppp
(third person plural preterite)
Kick out Ron
and cheer:
-ra, -ras, -ra, -'ramos, -rais, -ran
  • If your conjugation skills in the preterite of indicative are rusty, do activity #1 in preparation. If you do not have problems conjugating verbs in the preterite, start with #2. When you think you have a good handle on past subjunctive conjugation, stop and move down to the uses of the past subjunctive.
  1. El pretérito de indicativo-Formas #4 (3ppp) By BK Nelson @ Colby
  2. Imperfect Subjunctive Form by Michael Stroud@ Trinity
  3. Imperfect Subjunctive Forms2 by Michael Stroud@ Trinity
  4. 25 "nasty" irregular verbs in the past subjunctive By BK Nelson @ Colby
  5. 50 self-check irregular conjugations. By BK Nelson @ Colby

Uses:

  • You have learned the present subjunctive to express actions, conditions and situations that take place in the present or the future. Spanish speakers use the past subjunctive to comunicate the same information about the past.
Type of clause Present subjunctive Past subjunctive

Noun clauses

La profesora quiere que estudiemos. La profesora quería que estudiáramos.

Adjective clauses

Busco un trabajo que pague bien. Buscaba un trabajo que pagara bien.
Adverbial Clauses Yo nunca salgo de noche sin que mis padres lo sepan. Yo nunca salía de noche sin que mis padres lo supieran.

 

Practice the uses of the imperfect (past) subjunctive:
  1. El imperfecto de Subjuntivo en cláusulas nominales, adjetivales y adverbiales. by Michael Stroud@ Trinity

"Si" Clauses:

"Si" clauses are used to express what could happen if some condition is met.
Real (fact) vs. Unreal (contrary-to-fact)
  • If the the condition is unlikely to come about or purely hypothetical, the imperfect subjunctive is used in the condition clause (which starts with "si"), while the result clause takes the conditional. The order of the clauses does not matter.
  • If, on the other hand, the condition is a fact or is likely to occur, the present of indicative is used in the "Si" clause, while the result clause may take the present of indicative, the future, or a command.


Contrary- to-fact conditions
Condition
Result

Si yo fuera la profesora,

Si me quisieras de verdad,

Si mi amigo fuera rico,

no dejaría tanta tarea a los estudiantes.

no me tratarías tan mal.

no trabajaría de mesero.


Conditions that are fact or likely to occur
Condition
Result

Si tengo hambre,

Si haces ejercicio,

Si va Ud. a Madrid,

como en la cafetería.

bajarás de peso (loose weight)

visite el Museo del Prado.

     

Practice using the imperfect subjunctive to express contrary to fact conditions:

  1. Imperfect Subjunctive vs. Conditional #1 by Michael Stroud@ Trinity
  2. Frases condicionales #3 by Michael Stroud@ Trinity
  3. Condicionales Irreales I By Juan Ramón de Arana @ Ursinus
  4. ¿Qué hubiera pasado si...? by Centro Virtual Cervantes
  5. Si lo sé no vengo by Centro Virtual Cervantes

    More Si Clauses: These 4 exercises do NOT use the past subjunctive and conditional pattern. They use the indicative and imperative moods to speculate about situations that are POSSIBLE.
  1. Cláusulas con SI con el presente de indicativo#1By BK Nelson @ Colby
  2. Cláusulas con SI con el futuro#2 By BK Nelson @ Colby
  3. Cláusulas con SI con mandatos #3 By BK Nelson @ Colby
  4. Cláusulas con SI con el imperfecto de indicativo #4 By BK Nelson @ Colby
  5. Condicionales Reales By Juan Ramón de Arana @ Ursinus
Sequence of tenses
  1. El subjuntivo o el indicativo #2By BK Nelson @ Colby