Two Different Forms of Imperfect Subjuntive in Same Sentence

Question

Is there a legitimate reason to include two different forms of the Imperfect Subjuntive in the same manuscript? Is this merely a touting of the knowledge of the Spanish language? The following passage is from a passage of Soledad Puértolas's "Eva's Indifference": "Mi nombre no es muy original y bien pudiera sucedir que a ella no se le hubiese occurrido relacionar mi persona con la del escritor que había publicado dos novelas de relativo éxito."

Typos: "sucedEr" y "ocurrido" :) - Cordobesa, Apr 25, 2012

Answer 1

It doesn't sound as good to use the same imperfect subjunctive endings back to back.

Take this example:

I am glad you went to sleep early. It sounds like you needed it.

Me alegro de que te durmieras temprano. Suena como si lo necesitases.

"Necesitaras" would have been perfectly acceptable in the second sentence, but "necesitases" sounds a little better.

Muy buena respuesta, Tosh :) - Cordobesa, Apr 25, 2012

Huh! You learn something new every day... - missy8888, Apr 26, 2012

I'll say. - GuitarWarrior, Apr 26, 2012

Answer 2

The translation could be: My name isn't too original and it could happen not to have ocurred to her to relate my person to the writer's person that had published two succesful novels

IN THE SUBORDINATE CLAUSE SUBJUNCTIVE REPLACES THE TENSE OF THE INDICATIVE: There are verbs that ask the subjunctive instead of the indicative in the subordinate clauses: - the presente sujunctive instead of the present tense and the future tense of the indicative,when there is a verb at the present and future tense of the indicative in the independent clause -el subujnctivo pretérito perfecto instead of a past tense of the indicative,when there is a verb at the present and future tense of the indicative in the independent clause and you want to express a past action -the imperfect subjunctive instead of the present tense when there is a verb at a past tense of the indicative in the independent clause and you want to express a present action -el subjunctivo plusquamperfecto instead of a past tense of the indicative when there is a verb at a past tense of the indicative in the independent clause and you want to express a past action El quiere que ella vaya con el = He wants her to go with him Es imposible que ella haya ido con el = It's impossible for her to have gone with him El quería que ella fuera con el = He wanted her to go with him El quería que ella hubiera ido con el = He wanted her to have gone with him IN THE INDEPENDENT CLAUSES,SUBJUNCTIVE REPLACE THE CONDITIONAL: -the imperfect subjunctive,in -ra and -se for the present conditional -el subjunctivo plusquamperfecto for the past conditional

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Answer 3

Mi nombre no es muy original y bien pudiera suceder que a ella no se le hubiese ocurrido relacionar mi persona con la del escritor que había publicado dos novelas de relativo éxito."

My name is not very original and it's quite possible that it hadn't occurred to her to relate my personage with that of the writer who had published two relatively successful novels.

I think podría suceder can be used here, but instead of the conditional, you can use the imperfect subjunctive for a verb like "poder" or "querer."

"puede suceder que" is more like "es posible que," or "puede ser que." what follows that should be in the subjunctive in this example because of prediction or speculation, and since this is in the past, the imperfect subjunctive should follow, "hubiese."

Answer 4

bien pudiera sucedir (I think they put it in subjunctive to have a polite tone since he is like assuming that 'it could well follow' (like an opinion)... that 'to her it had not occurred to relate' your personage with that of the writer who had published 2 novels of relative success.

no se le hubiese ocurrido relacionar (The constructions are all derived from the first part of the sentence that his name is not very original, according to his opinion. Subjunctives are generally used to express opinions.)

Mi nombre no es muy original que a ella no se le hubiese ocurrido relacionar...

Mi nombre no es muy original que bien pudiera sucedir que a ella...

My name is not so original that it could well follow that relating my personage with that of the writer who had published 2 novels of relative success had not occurred to her.

I hope this helps.

Usually the 'ese' ending in subjuncitve form is common in written Spanish and the 'era' ending for spoken one. - kireiprincess19, Apr 25, 2012

I also agree with Tosh that it sounds better to use 'ese' form in the second sentence. But both forms should be correct. - kireiprincess19, Apr 25, 2012