Fuera/hubiera vs fuese/hubiese
In this post, Lazarus give a very informed explanation of the difference between the -era and -ese conjugation of the imperfect subjunctive.
My questions for native speakers and highly-advanced learners of Spanish only are the following:
1/Do you use only one of the forms of the imperfect subjunctive or both? If you use both then do you use them interchangeably or do you use different versions to express different things.
2/ Where is your Spanish from, both geographically and socially?
I am in Bogotá and I'm pretty sure that I mostly hear the -era endings. One of my chefs uses fuese and hubiese but when he does I notice it, o sea it stands out as being unusual. I have spoken about this with other Bogotanos and some say they only use the -era endings and that the -ese endings sound Spanish and/or of literature..
7 Answers
I listen to a lot of news in Spanish on a US channel, and I have watched several Mexican TV programs, and the only version of the imperfect subjunctive I have heard used there is the ara/iera version. This is also the version I use when talking or writing. I am not sure that I am qualified to answer this question, but I just thought I'd share my own experiences in case they might be helpful!
I studied Spanish in Mexico and was told that the ese was only used in Spain and in literature. That in Latinamerica it is the era version. I have only seen the ese in writing I have never heard it spoken here in Mexico.
But I also am not a native speaker.
Both are used. I think authors don't like a repetition in the same sentence, and will switch to the other, which expresses the same, but without apparent repetition. This answer refers to written, but modern Spanish ( Clara Sánchez,Eduardo Mendoza , Lorezno Silva etc.. )
I go to a regular Spanish class. Our first teacher was Mexican, our current teacher from Spain. We have been taught both endings and done exercises and read pieces using both endings. However, I would say we use iera 98% of the time and both are acceptable. We were told we just needed to be able to recognise ese. I have not tried to learn it as iera is acceptable in all situations and for me, easier to remember. I read articles from El País often and they use iera more often but they also use ese and in some articles I have read the writer has used both in the same article - I assume as it is a more interesting style. Our present teacher prefers iera but says some people in Spain use ese.
I listen to a talk radio station in Puerto Rico, and I hear both the -ra and -se endings used in that station.
A mí en la escuela me las enseñaron como equivalentes así que las uso las dos indistintamente. Para ser sincero no sé cuál uso más, probablemente la forma -ra. Lo que sí os puedo decir es que no suena raro usar la forma -se. Las oyes las dos y no te llama la atención.
Yo vivo en España, concretamente en el sur, pero he vivido en otras partes de la Península.
At school I was taught that they are equivalent and I use them both equally. To be honest, I don't know which one I use more, probably the -ra form. But I can tell you that -se form doesn't sound odd around here. You hear them both and it does not attract your attention.
I live in Spain, specifically in the south, but I have lived in other places of the Peninsula.
[Feel free to correct my English. Thank you]
I am not a native speaker. I learned my Spanish living in Peru for a couple years. I heard ere used almost exclusively in spoken Spanish. The only place I encountered ese was in literature, mostly in translations of ancient scripture, and there it was used interchangeably with ere. I would make a similar observation with the use of vosotros vs. ustedes to indicate the plural "you" in the familiar form.
