When starting a sentence with the conditional, do you always use the imperfect subjunctive?

Question

I am trying to figure out how to use the four subjunctive tenses. Wow, hard stuff for me. Por ejemplo, "Sería justo que Mariano pagara su parte de los gastos." Is it because it is something he should always do? Another example, " Fue injusto que el novelista ______ el premio literario." I think it would be ganó as opposed to ganara. Am I correct? Yes, this is homework, but I am not looking for answers, just help understanding the concepts. Peace to all

Answer 1

Here is a philosophical way to look at it... the conditional tense is really the future of the past (I know that's a little far out, but if you stop to think of it, that's what it is!) The subjunctive is a hazy sort of mood, indicating an action that is dependent on some other condition or action; it is also used after expressions with forms of "ser" that indicate emotion, judgment, disbelief or nonexistence. In your examples - "es justo que pague" or "sería justo que pagara" and "es injusto que gane" or "sería injusto que ganara" - you are looking at someone's judgment on something, which would require the subjunctive. The subjunctive following adverbial clauses follows a different pattern, but it appears from your examples that you are doing expressions with "ser".

Answer 2

Hi sunshine, we had a recent thread on this topic only the other day.

I found it, if you read Lazarus on this topic, you will see that really the past tense is the correcter form to use, however, it is also true that no native would do that

Por qué usar en subjuntivo con referencia al pasado

As always, thanks :) - sunshinzmommie, Oct 21, 2009

Thanks Heidita - 0075c9ad, Oct 21, 2009

This has officially become my favorite grammar topic.. - Deanski, Oct 22, 2009

Gracias por el enlace (o mejor dicho, el enlace indirecto). Antes no me habia fijado en el hilo en WR. - samdie, Oct 22, 2009

Answer 3

I've tried to learn the subjunctive mostly from loads of examples But I do know that this sort of construction could be seen as 'if this... then that'. So in your sentence 'sería justo que Mariano pagara su parte de los gastos'. You could reverse the order to check it

• If Marion were to pay the expenses, (then) it would be fair

See how that fits the pattern?

Estoy de acuerdo contigo, yo diría 'ganó' también, but hopefully someone else has posted the answer by the time I post

Answer 4

I find it interesting approach to subjunctive...

Thanks....I think I just need to practice and practice and practice some more. - sunshinzmommie, Oct 23, 2009

Answer 5

Ok, so how often do you use the imperfect subjunctive when speaking?

2.5 times per weekday; 3.0 on a weekend day. - samdie, Oct 23, 2009