Confused about subjunctive - sentences about cheese...

Question

Hi all, just wondering if my spanish makes sense.

This is the original text: Había quesos de olores tan fuertes que todavía tengo la aroma en las ventanas de la nariz. Cree que la clave es la frescura, cuando olía estos quesos podía imaginar la vaca de donde lo viniera y el pasto que comiera (no puedes encontrar algo así en una ciudad grande).

And in english i'm basically trying to say: There were cheeses that smelled so strongly, I still have their stench in my nostrils. I think the key here is freshness, when I smelt these cheeses I could imagine the come from which it came and the grass which it ate (you can't find something like this in a big city)

I've highlighted the bit that I'm particularly unsure about. Do I use the subjunctive here cause it is all a bit hypothetical?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum, :) - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Any practice in identifying the subjunctive is very welcome. :D - galsally, Feb 17, 2011

Why 'stench' though? It seems inapproporiate for describing a smell you seem to like. - galsally, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 1

Había quesos de olores tan fuertes que todavía siento el aroma en las fosas nasales. Creo que la clave es la frescura. Cuando olía estos quesos podía imaginarme la vaca de donde venían y el pasto que ella comía.

No need for subjunctive here. You are narrating and are using to imagine to convey an idea or evocation. When to imagine is being used as to think/to have an opinion, then the use of the subjunctive may be required, depending on the context.

Ok, but if your original text is the English text, I'd use the word "hedor" instead of "aroma", because you wrote "stench", not "aroma". I'd also simply write "narices" instead of "fosas nasales", because the latter sounds unnatural and contived to me. - Gekkosan, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 2

For longtime SD members that are keeping track of these rules, this means that the imperfect can be used with both fruits and cows.

:) - pesta, Feb 17, 2011