subjunctive and conditional
si yo hubiera ido a la entrevista, tendría el trabajo
If I had gone to the interview, I would have had the job
I am COMPLETELY confused. I can't tell the difference between haber in the conditional and using the subjunctive tense. The whole sentence is conditional because it's stating that he would have had the job on the condition that he went to the interview. I've been really frustrated about this, how do I know which part of the sentence to conjugate in the conditional and which one in the subjunctive? And why is one in conditional and other in the subjunctive?
6 Answers
This is subjunctive rule 7 (si). Basically when you us the word Si (if), it should trigger the fact that you may need to use the subjunctive.
If the situation is possible then just use indicative. For example: Si llueve esta noche, no voy a ir al supermercado.
However if the situation is imposible or contrary to reality then you need subjective. This may help.
Situation in the present or futrue
si + imperfect subjunctive+conditional. ex. Si mañana fuera Navidad, comeríamos mucho.
Situation in the past
si + plusc. subjunctive + condicional perfecto. ex) Si me hubiera levantado más temprano, no habría llegado tarde.
So in your example it may need to be: habría tenido el trabajo
I'm not sure if this might be too much info in one go but you might find it useful as a reference article on 'si clauses'. As has been mentioned there are some set patterns that aren't too hard once you know them.
As for which bit goes in which tense, for sentence that are say 'SECOND CONDITIONAL', ie. hypothetical situations in the future and the present that are contrary to fact or very unlikely; the result goes in the conditional and the event goes in the subjunctive:
Si + imperfect subjunctive + the conditional
Si lloviera ... no saldría.
If it were to rain I would not go out.
(contrary to fact or seen as fairly unlikely).
Your inclination to use the subjunctive twice is understandable and indeed this is also possible at times (ie. to replace the conditional clause with the subjunctive).
eg: For those sentences that can be classed as 'THIRD CONDITIONAL' - that is hypothetical situations in the past that are impossible or contrary to fact you can choose between the conditional and the pluperfect subjunctive.
Si + pluperfect subjunctive + the conditional perfect or pluperfect subjunctive
Si hubiera llovido ... no habría salido. (or no hubiera salido.)
If it had rained (it didn't) I wouldn't have gone out.
(contrary to fact or impossible)
Si hubiera sabido, hubiera ido (or habría ido) contigo.
If I had known, I would have gone with you.
= I didn't know so I didn't go.
Hello, Kyle and Rog.
I'm going to do an article (or whatever you may call it) about this, it's actually rather simple in this fixed form.
It's to speak about hypothetical situations, what would happen, or what would have happen, if the reality was not the reality (but obviously the reality is the reality).
si yo hubiera ido a la entrevista, tendría el trabajo
si yo hubiera ido (is very similar to the conditional, but it's announcing an altered reality)
tendría el trabajo (it's the conditional and is announcing the RESULT of that altered/hypothetical reality)
Si yo hubiera ido (but I didn't) tendría el trabajo (the result would have been me having the job)
The subjunctive is altering the reality, and the conditional is telling the result of that altered reality.
Hope that helps. I'll write more about this in a full article with references and music.
Kyle, the past perfect subjunctive is used in the if-clause where a condition was unfulfilled in the past. For example:
"If I had known before..." / "Si yo hubiera sabido antes..."
The result clause is either in the conditional or conditional perfect. So we have:
"Si yo hubiera sabido antes, te habría ayudado" "If I had known before, I would have helped you"
It is also possible to have the result clause in the past perfect subjunctive which is loosely analogous to the English "might have". So we could have:
"Si yo hubiera sabido antes, te hubiera ayudado"
This construction also applies when the if-clause is an hypothesis. For example
"Si yo fuera a España este año, podría (pudiera) ver la Alhambra" "If I were to go to Spain this year, I would (might) be able to see the Alhambra"
In the English version above, "if I were" is the English past subjunctive, so you see things are not so different.
Interesting. Exactly That has been my question for quite a while in Spanish, but I´ve not delved in just yet, because of limited time, and choosing to use that limited time for whatever is being presented in class (and what I´m being tested on) Still, I was thinking, just last night, even if I don´t start using it right away, I would Love to see a brief overview of when subjunctive is used vs conditional. Both seem so often to use ¨woulds and coulds¨ in English, that I don´t at all understand the choice in Spanish. Thanks for posting.
Creo que no entiendes bien, hay que asistir a la entrevista y comportarse bien.. Y si las cosan hubieran ido bien, posiblemente habrías tenido una oferta de trabajo..
You're simplifying things: First you must attend the interview and do yor best, then, best, you might , just might , have been offered a job..
It's about the things that would have happended, had you done something differently. If only..
