The Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive: Formation and -ra and -se Alternatives

The Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive: Formation and -ra and -se Alternatives

In this lesson, you will form the imperfect subjunctive from the third-person plural preterite form that you already know. You will learn both the -ra and -se alternatives and preserve the written accent in the nosotros form where required.

Start from the preterite ellos / ellas / ustedes form

Example:

hablar → hablaron — to speak → they spoke.

Remove -ron:

habla- — stem used for the imperfect subjunctive.

-ra endings

For hablar:

Subject	Form
yo	hablara — that I spoke / were to speak
tú	hablaras — that you spoke / were to speak
él / ella / usted	hablara — that he / she / you formal spoke
nosotros / nosotras	habláramos — that we spoke / were to speak
vosotros / vosotras	hablarais — that you all spoke / were to speak
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablaran — that they / you all spoke

-se endings

The same stem can take the -se series:

• hablase — that I / he / she spoke
• hablases — that you spoke
• hablásemos — that we spoke
• hablaseis — that you all spoke
• hablasen — that they / you all spoke

The two series are equivalent in the target patterns

Target -ra:

Si hablara más despacio, sería más fácil entenderme. — If I spoke more slowly, it would be easier to understand me.

Target -se:

Si hablase más despacio, sería más fácil entenderme. — If I spoke more slowly, it would be easier to understand me.

For the B2 patterns studied here, both are valid. Do not conclude that they have been historically or stylistically interchangeable in every possible use.

Regular -ER verb

comieron → comie- — they ate → imperfect-subjunctive stem.

• comiera — that I / he / she ate
• comieras — that you ate
• comiéramos — that we ate
• comierais — that you all ate
• comieran — that they / you all ate

Regular -IR verb

vivieron → vivie- — they lived → imperfect-subjunctive stem.

• viviera — that I / he / she lived
• vivieras — that you lived
• viviéramos — that we lived
• vivierais — that you all lived
• vivieran — that they / you all lived

Irregular preterite stems carry through

tener:

tuvieron → tuvie- — they had → imperfect-subjunctive stem.

• tuviera — that I / he / she had
• tuvieras — that you had
• tuviéramos — that we had
• tuvieran — that they / you all had

Other familiar irregulars

• estuvieron → estuviera / estuviese — they were → that I / he / she were
• hicieron → hiciera / hiciese — they did → that I / he / she did
• pudieron → pudiera / pudiese — they could → that I / he / she could
• quisieron → quisiera / quisiese — they wanted → that I / he / she wanted
• vinieron → viniera / viniese — they came → that I / he / she came
• dijeron → dijera / dijese — they said → that I / he / she said

Ser and ir share the same preterite base

fueron → fue- — they were / went → imperfect-subjunctive stem.

• fuera — that I / he / she were / went
• fuese — that I / he / she were / went
• fuéramos — that we were / went
• fuésemos — that we were / went

Context tells you whether the verb is ser or ir.

Nosotros stress and written accent

The nosotros form places stress on the vowel immediately before the r or s ending sequence.

• habláramos
• comiéramos
• viviéramos
• tuviéramos
• fuéramos

The written accent preserves the intended stress.

Do not rediscover the preterite stem here

This formation method depends on a preterite ellos form you already know. If you do not know tuvieron, dijeron, or hicieron, review that preterite form first rather than guessing a new imperfect-subjunctive stem.

A practical formation method

1. Recall the preterite ellos / ellas / ustedes form.
2. Remove -ron.
3. Add either the -ra series or the -se series.
4. Preserve the written accent in the nosotros form.
5. Carry irregular preterite stems into the imperfect subjunctive.
6. Treat -ra and -se as equivalent alternatives in the target B2 patterns without claiming universal interchangeability in every historical or stylistic use.

From Form to Hypothetical Conditions

You can now derive the imperfect subjunctive from familiar preterite forms. The next lesson combines it with the conditional in the standard hypothetical pattern si + imperfect subjunctive + conditional.