Spanish subjunctive help

Question

I am learning about the different forms of subjunctive in Spanish right now. It's very confusing for me. For example, take these two sentences below:

1. Tom podría ser el presidente, pero no quiere que le ((ELIJAN or ELIGIERAN)).
2. A mi maestra le gustaría que nosotros ((APRENDAMOS or APRENDIÉRAMOS)) más rápido.

I am given two subjunctive forms to choose from. I don't get how you are supposed to know which form would be correct? Can anyone help explain this to me? I would really appreciate it!

Answer 1

1.Tom podría ser el presidente, pero no quiere que le ELIJAN.

Tom could be the president, but he doesn't want them to elect him.

In this example it depends on what tom wants. "querer" is the subjunctive indicator, and it is in the present tense. "elegir" should be in the present subjunctive because right now, Tom doesn't want to be elected.

1. A mi maestra le gustaría que nosotros APRENDIÉRAMOS más rápido.

My teacher would like us to learn more quickly.

The imperfect subjunctive should be used here to go with the verb "gustaría." Your teacher would like you to learn more quickly, but considers that you might not actually do it. "gustaría" is in the conditional tense here for courtesy and politeness, and the imperfect subjunctive (aprendiéramos) should be used with the conditional tense.

The reason why we don't use eligieran in the first example is because "podría" is not the subjunctive indicator, "quiere" is.

Thank you! This really helped me understand. - rebbylack, May 25, 2012

Answer 2

1.Tom podría ser el presidente, pero no quiere que lo ELIJAN (present of subjunctive).

1. A mi maestra le gustaría que nosotros APRENDIÉRAMOS más rápido. (imperfect of subjunctive).

En este segundo caso, interpreto que la profesora expresa un deseo futuro Y poco probable. Si el deseo fuera inmediato (for this moment) y fuera posible/probable, you can also say "APRENDAMOS".

:) - GuitarWarrior, May 24, 2012

Thank you so much :) - rebbylack, May 25, 2012