Imperfect Subjunctive vs Past Perfect Subjuntive

Question

Can you help me to understand the difference between those two tenses.. Except special cases, usage of both seem to me the same. If the WEIRDO verb is in the past/imperfect or refers to the past, it says, use the imperfect subjunctive and gives similar explanation for the past perfect subjunctive: Imperfect subjunctive: Esperaba que se casarais. Past perfect Subjunctive:Dudaba que, el fontanera hubiera traido.... thank you!

Answer 1

Before we get into this, remember the Present Perfect tense and the Past Perfect tense:

"Karl has left" and "Karl had left" So running through the four subjunctive tenses yields:

Present Subjunctive:

"I doubt that Karl will leave / is leaving" "Dudo que Karl salga"

Past Subjunctive:

"I doubted that Karl would leave" "Dudé que Karl saliera"

Present Perfect Subjunctive:

"I doubt that Karl has left" (NB has left) "Dudo que Karl haya salido"

Past Perfect Subjunctive:

"I doubted that Karl had left" (NB had left) "Dudé que Karl hubiera salido"

I hope this helps

Great answer! - francobollo, Jan 1, 2013

Thank you very much Padrin. It helped a lot. - selkaraka, Jan 1, 2013

You're welcome - padrin, Jan 2, 2013

Answer 2

Check out the answer from Lazarus1907

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