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Spanish II - Past Subjunctive and Sequence of Tenses

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    Study Guide Spanish II – Past Subjunctive and Sequence of Tenses 1. Forming the Past Subjunctive: Verb Rules 1. 1 What Is the Past Subjunctive? Sometimes, you need to use the subjunctive mood in a sentence that talks about the past . This is called the past subjunctive . Even though some textbooks call it the imperfect subjunctive , don’t worry about the name. The important thing to remember is this: The past subjunctive is formed using the preterite tense . Before learning how to use it in sentences, you must first learn how to form it correctly . 1. 2 One Rule for All Verbs The good news is that all verbs follow the same rules when forming the past subjunctive. • There are no irregular endings in the past subjunctive. • The only challenge is finding the correct verb stem . To do this, always start with the third person plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes) form of the preterite tense . 1. 3 Finding the Verb Stem Here’s the key rule: 1. Take the ellos form of the preterite. 2. Remove - ron . 3. What remains is your past subjunctive stem . Every ellos preterite form ends in - ron , so this rule always works.

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    Study Guide 1. 4 Adding the Past Subjunctive Endings ( - ra Forms) Once you have the stem, add the endings below. Important note: The nosotros/nosotras form always has an accent mark on the vowel right before the ending. 1. 5 Example with an Irregular Preterite: Tener Tener is a great example because its preterite form looks very different from the infinitive. Steps: • Preterite ellos form: tuvieron • Remove - ron → tuvie - • Add past subjunctive endings

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    Study Guide 1. 6 Example with a Regular Verb: Hablar Now let’s look at a regular verb. Steps: • Preterite ellos form: hablaron • Remove - ron → habla - • Add past subjunctive endings 1. 7 The Second Set of Endings ( - se Forms) Spanish also has another set of past subjunctive endings . These are used less often , but they are still correct and important to recognize.

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    Study Guide These endings: • Replace - ra with - se • Replace - ramos with - semos • Replace - rais with - seis • Replace - ran with - sen The verb stem is formed the same way (using the ellos preterite form). 1. 8 Example Using Tener with – se Endings

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    Study Guide 1. 9 Example Using Hablar with – se Endings • Preterite ellos form: hablaron • Remove - ron → habla - • Add – se endings Summary The preterite tense has many irregular forms , so it’s very important to review it carefully — especially the ellos/ellas form . If you know the ellos preterite form , you can always form the past subjunctive correctly . 2. Sequence of Tenses 2.1 What Does “Sequence of Tenses” Mean? Once you know how to form the past subjunctive , the next step is learning when to use it . This is where the sequence of tenses comes in. The sequence of tenses explains which subjunctive tense to use — present or past — based on the tense of the verb before the word que .

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