B2 · Unit 13 · 42 words, 2 texts with translation

Say what you were hoping for

Talk about feelings and expectations that didn't come true: disappointment, hurt and reproaches after someone stands you up. Learn the imperfect subjunctive to say what you wanted others to do.

Texts in this unit

Dialogue · 18 linesLa cena que se enfrióThe dinner that got cold Story · 18 linesTú querías que él lo adivinara todoYou wanted him to guess everything

Grammar in this unit

Imperfect subjunctive: how hablaron becomes hablara

You already know the present subjunctive: Quiero que vengas — I want you to come (B1, unit 18). It works as long as you're talking about now or later.

But as soon as you talk about yesterday — "I wanted you to come", "I was expecting you to call" — you need a different form: the imperfect subjunctive, also called the -ra form. Without it you can't say you're hurt, explain yourself, or tell someone what you were hoping for.

How to form it. There's one rule for every verb, with no exceptions:

take the ellos form of the preterite: hablaron, comieron, vivieron;
drop -ron;
add -ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran.

Person	hablar	comer	vivir
yo	hablara	comiera	viviera
tú	hablaras	comieras	vivieras
él / ella / usted	hablara	comiera	viviera
nosotros	habláramos	comiéramos	viviéramos
vosotros	hablarais	comierais	vivierais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablaran	comieran	vivieran

The yo form and the él / ella form are the same, just like in the present subjunctive. The nosotros form always has a written accent: habláramos, comiéramos.

Quería que me llamaras. — I wanted you to call me.
Esperaba que comiéramos juntos. — I was hoping we'd have lunch together.
No pensaba que vivieran tan lejos. — I didn't think they lived so far away.

Trap: one accent mark. hablara (stress on bla) is the imperfect subjunctive. hablará (stress on the end) is the future tense: "he'll talk". The same goes for llamaras and llamarás, llegaran and llegarán. When you hear them, only the stress tells them apart; in writing, only the accent mark does.

Tuviera, fuera, dijera: irregular stems come from the preterite

You already know the irregular preterite stems: tuve, hice, dije, pidió, durmió, leyó (A2, unit 9; B1, unit 6). There's nothing new to memorize: the rule "ellos form minus -ron" carries all those quirks over to the new form.

Verb	Preterite, ellos form	Imperfect subjunctive
tener	tuvieron	tuviera
estar	estuvieron	estuviera
hacer	hicieron	hiciera
poder	pudieron	pudiera
venir	vinieron	viniera
dar	dieron	diera
decir	dijeron	dijera
ser, ir	fueron	fuera
pedir	pidieron	pidiera
sentir	sintieron	sintiera
dormir	durmieron	durmiera
leer	leyeron	leyera

The other persons take the same endings: tuviera, tuvieras, tuviera, tuviéramos, tuvierais, tuvieran. The nosotros form always has a written accent: fuéramos, dijéramos.

Three things to notice:

One form for two verbs. fuera comes from both ser and ir (just like fui). Quería que todo fuera perfecto. — I wanted everything to be perfect. Quería que fueras conmigo. — I wanted you to go with me. There's also the adverb fuera — "outside": the sentence tells you which one it is.
No i after j. dijera, trajera — just like in dijeron: never dijiera.
Old friends. You've already met this form in set phrases: quisiera in quisiera un café (I'd like a coffee), pudiera in ojalá pudiera (I wish I could), and fuera in si yo fuera tú — if I were you.

You already know those phrases as a whole; the rules for si and ojalá come later.

Examples:

Esperaba que vinieras a cenar. — I was hoping you'd come to dinner.
Quería que me dijeras la verdad. — I wanted you to tell me the truth.

A common mistake is building the form from the infinitive: never ✗ tenera, hacera, venira — the right forms are tuviera, hiciera, viniera. Not sure? Think of how you say "they had", "they did", "they came" in the preterite.

Quería que vinieras: which subjunctive after a past or "would" verb

You already know that after wishes, hopes, feelings, doubt and para que you use the subjunctive (B1, units 18, 19 and 24). What's new is which subjunctive. Look at the verb in the main part of the sentence:

Main verb	After que	Example
present: `quiero`, `espero`	present subjunctive	Quiero que vengas. — I want you to come.
past: `quería`, `esperaba`, `me molestó`	imperfect subjunctive	Quería que vinieras. — I wanted you to come.
"would": `me gustaría`, `preferiría`	imperfect subjunctive	Me gustaría que vinieras. — I'd like you to come.

Both verbs change. In English, "I want you to come" becomes "I wanted you to come": only the first verb changes. In Spanish the second verb has to change too:

quiero que vengas — I want you to come (now);
quería que vinieras — I wanted you to come (back then, on Saturday).

The same happens after other words you know:

hope: Esperaba que me llamaras. — I was expecting you to call me. Compare: Espero que me llames. — I hope you'll call me.
feeling: Me molestó que no me escribieras. — It bothered me that you didn't write to me.
doubt: No pensaba que te importara tanto. — I didn't think it mattered so much to you.
purpose: Lo preparé todo para que estuvieras a gusto. — I got everything ready so that you'd feel comfortable.

Me gustaría que… is the gentlest way to tell someone what you want from them: Me gustaría que me escucharas. — I'd like you to listen to me. The form is past, but the meaning is about now and later, just like English "I'd like".

One person — still the infinitive: Quería ir. — I wanted to go. Quería que fueras tú. — I wanted you to go.

A common mistake is keeping the present subjunctive after a past verb: not ✗ quería que vengas, but quería que vinieras; not ✗ me gustaría que vengas, but me gustaría que vinieras.

Words in this unit

la ocasión — occasion, chance, good moment
Hoy es una ocasión especial. — Today is a special occasion.
la reacción — reaction
¿Cuál fue tu reacción al verla? — What was your reaction when you saw her?
el tono — tone, shade
No me gusta tu tono. — I don't like your tone.
ignorar — to ignore, not to know
Me ignora desde el lunes. — He's been ignoring me since Monday.
surgir — to come up, to arise
Siempre surge algún problema. — Some problem always comes up.
incómodo — uncomfortable, awkward
Me siento incómoda con él. — I feel uncomfortable with him (woman speaking).
el imprevisto — something unexpected, unforeseen problem
Tengo un imprevisto y no puedo ir. — I have something unexpected to deal with, and I can't go.
el orgullo — pride
Siento mucho orgullo por mi hija. — I feel great pride in my daughter.
culpar — to blame
No me culpes a mí. — Don't blame me.
decepcionar — to disappoint, to let down
No quiero decepcionarte. — I don't want to disappoint you.
dejar plantado — to stand (someone) up
Ayer me dejaste plantada en la puerta del cine. — Yesterday you stood me up outside the movie theater (woman speaking).
la expectativa — expectation
Tenía muchas expectativas con este viaje. — I had a lot of expectations for this trip.
la desilusión — disappointment
Fue una gran desilusión. — It was a big disappointment.
el reproche — reproach, criticism
No es un reproche, es una pregunta. — It's not a reproach, it's a question.
a solas — alone, in private
Quiero hablar contigo a solas. — I want to talk to you alone.
indiferente — indifferent
Me trató de forma indiferente. — He treated me in an indifferent way.
distante — distant
Últimamente estás muy distante. — You've been very distant lately.
la frialdad — coldness
Me habló con frialdad. — She spoke to me coldly.
el rencor — resentment, grudge
No te guardo rencor. — I don't hold a grudge against you.
ir al grano — to get to the point
Vamos al grano, que no tengo mucho tiempo. — Let's get to the point, I don't have much time.
compensar — to make up for, to be worth it
Voy a compensarte por lo del sábado. — I'm going to make it up to you for Saturday.
informal — informal, casual; unreliable
Es una cena informal, vente como quieras. — It's a casual dinner, come however you like.
irresponsable — irresponsible
No seas irresponsable. — Don't be irresponsible.
desanimarse — to get discouraged, to lose heart
No te desanimes, lo vas a conseguir. — Don't get discouraged, you'll make it.
proponerse — to resolve (to do), to set yourself a goal
Me propongo leer más este año. — I resolve to read more this year.
justificarse — to justify yourself, to make excuses
No tienes que justificarte conmigo. — You don't have to justify yourself to me.
empeñarse — to insist (on), to be set on
Se empeña en llamarme a las once. — He insists on calling me at eleven.
defraudar — to let down, to disappoint
Su respuesta me defraudó. — His answer let me down.
echar en cara — to throw (something) in someone's face, to hold (something) against someone
No me eches en cara lo que hice por ti. — Don't throw what I did for you in my face.
cara a cara — face to face, in person
Prefiero hablar cara a cara. — I prefer to talk face to face.
encogerse de hombros — to shrug (your shoulders)
Le pregunté y se encogió de hombros. — I asked him, and he shrugged.
suave — soft, gentle
Tiene una voz muy suave. — He has a very soft voice.
profundo — deep
El lago es muy profundo. — The lake is very deep.
enfriarse — to get cold, to cool down, to cool off
Se te enfría la sopa. — Your soup is getting cold.
terco — stubborn
Eres muy terco, nunca cambias de idea. — You're very stubborn, you never change your mind (to a man).
sereno — calm, serene
Habló con voz serena. — He spoke in a calm voice.
detallista — thoughtful, attentive to little things
Mi marido es muy detallista: siempre recuerda las fechas. — My husband is very thoughtful: he always remembers dates.
el pretexto — excuse, pretext
Siempre buscas un pretexto para no venir. — You always look for an excuse not to come.
el labio — lip
Me duele el labio. — My lip hurts.
la uña — nail, fingernail
Me como las uñas cuando estoy nerviosa. — I bite my nails when I'm nervous (woman speaking).
morder — to bite
Mi perro no muerde. — My dog doesn't bite.
el aliento — breath; encouragement
Llegué sin aliento a la estación. — I got to the station out of breath.

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