Questions about the Subjunctive.

Question

In the following sentence why is the past subjunctive used for the verb apartar.

Fernanda , que no retiraba el tazón de mis labios por mucho que yo me APARTASE, hizo una mueca que quería ser una sonrisa.

And in the following why is the past subjunctive used for the verb ser.

Tampco Pedro era un dechado de simpatía, así que no resultaba extraño que el fruto de aquel desgraciado matrimonio FUERA esta chiquilla seria, enlutada y tan dulce como el aceite de ricino.

Thank You

Answer 1

Relax I trust you I just wanted to straighten all the posts out because they were a bit confusing. So when she writes por mucho que yo me apartase she didn´t really try hard to get away she is just guessing that if she had tried to move away more then fernanda would not have moved the bowl'

Answer 2

jasondi64 said:

Ok you say that por más que sometimes uses the subjunctive and sometimes doesn´t. James said that por mucho que requires the subjunctive. It seem like we have two contradictory replies here. Or is it that por más que can use subjunctive and indicative but por mucho que is different because it requires the subjunctive?

The subjunctive is more used because of the kind of meaning that we normally express with this construction, but indicative is certainly possible and correct. I am more than happy to give you extracts from several grammar books entirely devoted to the subjunctive, where this is explained with lots of examples, if you need more proof. Otherwise, trust me; I am a Spanish native, and a teacher of Spanish as a foreign language.

Answer 3

thank you for the add

Answer 4

Subjuntivo pretérito #2? First time I hear this in my life!

It's listed that way on the verb conjugation page of this site. See, for example:

http://www.spanishdict.com/conjugate/ser

Answer 5

Ok you say that por más que sometimes uses the subjunctive and sometimes doesn´t. James said that por mucho que requires the subjunctive. It seem like we have two contradictory replies here. Or is it that por más que can use subjunctive and indicative but por mucho que is different because it requires the subjunctive'

Answer 6

The construction "por más que" can be followed both by indicative and subjunctive, and can be translated as well as "even though". In indicative we declare what follows, normally because we want to state all the details. With subjunctive we don't declare it, which can happen -for example- if we are just guessing what is going to happen if we keep moving out of the way.

In the second sentence, the past is used because "resultaba" is the the past tense, and it is in subjunctive because "el fruto de aquel desgraciado matrimonio" is not being declared, but taken as an assumption; the only declaration is the one that "resultar" makes: extraño.

Answer 7

Basically, the two forms are the same. I recommend you use #1. When you reach an advanced level, you can learn some subtle differences in them, which are not necessary for ordinary speech and writing.

Answer 8

James said:

It's the past subjunctive because the sentence is in the past tense. It's the subjunctive because the grammatical constructions being used require it.Por mucho que yo me (verb) = no matter how much I (verb)No es extraño que (verb phrase) = It's not strange that (verb phrase)Both of the above require the subjunctive.

Hi james, have a question here.
When search in the conjugation on this site, there are two different options for subjunctive past tense forms. One is called "subjuntivo pretérito" and another one is called "subjuntivo pretérito #2". What is the difference between these two? Why were the "apartase" used in the first sentence from subjuntivo pretérito #2 option and "fuera" used in the second sentence from subjuntivo pretérito option?
When should I use the subjunctive conjugated forms from the first option, when from the second option?

Thank you,

Marco

Answer 9

It's the past subjunctive because the sentence is in the past tense. It's the subjunctive because the grammatical constructions being used require it.

Por mucho que yo me (verb) = no matter how much I (verb)
No es extraño que (verb phrase) = It's not strange that (verb phrase)

Both of the above require the subjunctive.