Which tense should I use?

Question

Hello everyone, I'm a bit confused with a grammar issue and I need help. Here it goes:

If I wanted to say "I'm very happy that you wrote me so quickly" I would probably say "Me da mucho gusto que me hayas escrito tan pronto" We use the preterito perfecto de subjuntivo.

BUT I want to write: "I was very happy that you wrote me so quickly", which would probably be "Me dio mucho gusto que.....?". Which tense should I use here and WHY?

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

...que me hubieras escrito tan pronto.

The pluperfect tense of the subjunctive mood is used to express the same subjectivity as the present subjunctive, but, like the pluperfect indicative, at a point before another action in the past.

The past perfect subjunctive is used to express an action that took place previously to another action in the past.

So "that you had written me so fast" took place previous to "I was very happy", both actions being in the past.

hayas escrito=antepresente

hubieras escrito=antepretérito

Nice, voting :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 21, 2010

Answer 2

Thank you very much for your quick and to-the-point response