I don't understand when to use hubiera, tuviera, or quisiera.

Question

Please help!

If querría is "would like", what is quisiera???

Also, is tenería "would have in possession"?

And hubiera... I'm gonna stop trying, this is hurting my brain.

Can someone please give an example sentence using all these three words? Oh, for "Pudo" also, please. Does "pudo" mean "could" as in "I could eat" = "Yo pudo comer"?

Answer 1

I'll try the "pudo" bit because this is one of my hobby horses.

Pudo is from the verb Poder.

Could is a Modal and Modals do not exist in Spanish.

The correct translation for Poder is "to be able (to) " not "can" which is also a Modal.

So pudo = I was able. ooops! I made a mistake pudo = he / she / it could. Gracias cae.

Could is often thought of as the past tense of can but it is not because Modals do not have tenses.

I could do it now. present

I could do it yesterday. past

I could do it tomorrow. future

Pero he viste a la verb chart y creo que "pudo" es para tercera persona, durante "pude" es para primera persona, no? Muy interesante información de modales, a propósito. Muchas gracias! - SlimNm, Jul 8, 2013

Muy buen aporte, Ian, aunque recuerda que "pudo" = He/She/It was able (or even "You" in the formal version, 'usted'). =) - -cae-, Jul 9, 2013

Gracias cae :) - ian-hill, Jul 9, 2013

Answer 2

You're getting a bit mixed up with the conditional and the subjunctive. Querría is the conditional present tense indicative of the verb querer, and quisiera is the imperfect (past tense) subjunctive.

Hubiera is the imperfect subjunctive of the verb haber. Used with the past participle as you would use haber in the present tense (ha visto=have seen), it creates verbs like this: hubiera visto=were to have seen. I would have liked you to have seen the house: me habría gustado que hubieras visto la casa.

Tenería, as far as I know, is not a verb. The conditional of the verb tener would be tendría.

The conditional for poder is "podría" not "pudo" which is the simple past tense. I could eat (conditional) is "podría comer." I could eat (but now I can't=past tense of can)="pude comer." I can eat is "puedo comer." He could eat (but now he can't) is "pudo comer." Don't mix up past tense of "can" with the conditional. In english, it's the same word, but it's not the same word in spanish.

in other words "I could" means two things in English: that you were able to do something in the past or that you perhaps are able to do something in the present, but it depends.

In Spanish:

Podía comprar un Ferrari, cuando era rica. (I could buy a Ferrari when I was rich.) Podría comprar un Ferrari, si fuera rica. (I could buy a Ferrari if I were rich.)

Good - but - "could" is not the past tense of "can" because "can" is not a verb :) - ian-hill, Jul 8, 2013

I don't understand how "to want" can be subjunctive in the past tense. Does this mean that Quisiera means "I would have wanted"? Is is used in Spanish where in English we would have said "I would have liked to"? - SlimNm, Jul 9, 2013

Thank you for that M H A W , I am now either sufficiently perplexed and anguished , or on the way to understanding , I shall now sit in a corner and sob gently, or take a draft of something golden and strong. - ray76, Jul 9, 2013

Answer 3

Could = pude / podía / podría

Thanks! - SlimNm, Jul 10, 2013