Grammar Question for Sophisticated Linguists
The sentence appears in a short story I am reading:
Él me llevaría más rápido que ninguna otra máquina, a menos que decidiese romperse en las nubes. . . (referring to an airplane)
Why would one use Imperfect Subjunctive #2, "decidiese", instead of Imperfect Subjunctive (#1), "decidiera" in this sentence, or is it just a personal preference?
*as defined by SpanishDict Conjugations section
Thank you in advance for your thoughts or recommendations!
5 Answers
I fail on both "linguist" and "sophisticated", but it's personal preference.
I don't claim to be a linguist, much less sophisticated, either, but I do agree with Vikingo, for the most part. Most often it comes down to simple personal preference with a slight preference for the -ra (imperfect subjunctive 1) form being exhibited in most of the Americas (at least according to what I have read on the subject). There are, however, a handful of occasion (that I am aware of) in which only one form would be acceptable.
For example, there are certain verbs—some of which are often referred to as verbs of courtesy (poder, querer, deber, parecer)—which, when used in modal constructions, share a certain overlap in meaning between the conditional and preterit imperfect subjunctive (1) verb form. This overlap stems from the treatment of these two verb forms in classic Spanish literature. In such cases, the -se form (imperfect subjunctive 2) is excluded:
?Podría hacer algo ?? Pudiera hacer algo ?? Pudiese hacer algo
?Querría hacer algo ?? Quisiera hacer algo ?? Quisiese hacer algo
?Debería hacer algo ?? Debiera hacer algo ?? Debiese hacer algo
?Parecería que... ?? pareciera que... ?? Pareciese que...
Although, as far as I know, this overlap (as described above) is limited to these four verbs, I have also read that in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, such an overlap extends to include other verbs as well (but it would probably be best to research this further if so interested).
Why would one use Imperfect Subjunctive #2, "decidiese", instead of Imperfect Subjunctive (#1), "decidiera" in this sentence, or is it just a personal preference?
Given the terminology, I assume you have learnt these forms in the grammar of this site. As you have been told already, it is a matter of personal preference, but I can tell you that the imperfect in -se (the one you call #2) is the original imperfect subjunctive, "imported" directly from the Latin pluperfect subjunctive. The imperfect in -ra comes from indicative forms in Latin, and in Medieval Spanish it was only used as such, but later it began to accumulate other uses, like being used like a conditional in courtesy expressions with "querer", "poder" and "deber", and exactly like the traditional subjunctive forms. So eventually, -ra was used as much as -se as a subjunctive ending, and maybe because it is more versatile than -ra (it has more uses, apart from the typically subjunctive ones), it is definitely more popular in spoken Spanish in Latin America nowadays (in literature -ra is a lot more common). In Spain both forms are used roughly the same, and we change from one ending to the other to have variation in the ending of the words.
?Parecería que... ?? pareciera que... ?? Pareciese que...
"Pareciese" is rarely used in this sense, but it can be found, even in literature.
Nancy, Great question! There's no difference between the 2 forms, so it's just a personal choice.
While I enjoyed reading Izanoni1's post on this subject, I am not sure I can agree with it 100%. The subjunctive1 form is more frequently used than the 2 form. I have never heard that verbs of courtesy will take form 1 instead of 2. To me they can take both because the verb mood is identical. The form you use is a personal choice.
Examples:
Ojalá y el médico pudiese hacer algo por esa niña enferma.
Si tú quisieses ya te habrías casado con ella.
I assume you have learnt these forms in the grammar of this site.
Why did you use the verb " learnt" instead of the verb "learned" ? I guess it is an English's "Thing".
