how to say "if i were"

Question

how to say 'if i were'

Answer 1

1.- Si yo fuera ...

2.- Si yo estuviera ...

Examples :

1.- Si yo fuera millonario, me iría de vacaciones todos los meses / If I were millionaire, I would go on holidays every month.

2.- Si yo estuviera en casa, dormiría todo el día. / If I were at home, I would sleep all day.

I hope it helps

Why is it imperfect? If I were means if I were right now. If I were the president, I would . . . - ocbizlaw, Jun 12, 2011

Think about it though- "were" is a past tense verb. - Goyo, Jun 12, 2011

In both sentences the 1st part begins with the subjunctive (If I were...) and end with conditional clauses - iría and dormiría. Imperfect would be iba and dormía. - margaretcorwin, Jun 12, 2011

Margaret, the question is how to say, "If I were", thus it's the verbs ser & estar that we need to be in the imperfect tense, not ir and dormir. - Goyo, Jun 13, 2011

Answer 2

If I were = Si fuera /si estuviera

If I were you = si yo fuera tu

You would use the imperfect subjunctive of ser here which is fuera

As Goyo correctly indicated you can also use the imperfect subjunctive of estar in some situations which is estuviera

I think you could say

If you were the only girl in the world I would love you for ever.

= Si fueras la única chica en el mundo te amaría para siempre

Translation can vary according to the context in which you use the expression so please be careful

I hope that helps

Corregid mi español, por favor

The only thing wrong here is the part where you explain "Si estuvieras la única chica..." because in this sentence you would have to use "ser". Si fueras la única chica... - margaretcorwin, Jun 12, 2011

Muchas gracias Margaret, ya he hecho la correción :) - FELIZ77, Jun 13, 2011

Answer 3

Note that "if I were you" is yo que tú.

I have heard that expression as another way of saying: if I were you - FELIZ77, Jun 13, 2011

Answer 4

It's si fuera (for ser)

It's si estuviera (for estar)

Buena respuesta, Goyo :) - FELIZ77, Jun 12, 2011

Answer 5

I think it is ¨Si yo sea.¨

The present subjunctive is not used in if clauses. - 0074b507, Jun 12, 2011

clipped from article: The present subjunctive is NOT used after si (“if”)! - 0074b507, Jun 12, 2011