Imperfect Subjunctive - is this correct?

Question

I'm trying to figure out if this sentence is correct:
A mis maestros les gustaban cuando yo hiciera mi tarea.

Or should it be: A mis maestros les gustarían cuando yo hiciera mi tarea.

Basically - My teachers liked it when I did my homework.

Thank you for any help you can give.

Answer 1

My teachers liked it when I did my homework.

According the English variant, both verbs reflect habitual past action (imperfect)> A mis maestros les gustaba cuando yo hacía mi tarea.

Yes, you're right - "gustar" should be in the singular. However, if I'm trying to force imperfect subjunctive to be used in the second half of the sentence, then would the first part be "gustaba" or "gustarían"? Or would "gustar" not work for this? - SiempreAprendo, Feb 5, 2014

You can force subjunctive all you want, but it won´t be correct. And ... conditional cannot be used as habitual past action in Spanish as it is in English - 005faa61, Feb 5, 2014

Forgive my persistence, but I'm still a little confused. If I want imperfect subjunctive (hiciera)to be used in the second half of the sentence, what tense of gustar do I use in the first half? Or will gustar simply not work? - SiempreAprendo, Feb 7, 2014

Answer 2

The subjunctive should definitely be used since you have not declared that you did do the homework (but that they liked it if you did). The present subjunctive will also not fit here, so the imperfect should be the one used.

You can write:

A mis maestros les gustarían/gustaron (not sure) que yo hice mi tarea

My teachers liked that I did my homework.

A mis maestros les gustarían cuando hiciera mi tarea

My teachers liked it when I would do my homework.

Quote from the reference section on the imperfect subjunctive:

f the WEIRDO verb (independent clause) is in the preterite or the imperfect, then the subjunctive verb that follows will also be imperfect.

I believe you are correct. If we are wrong, at least we'll learn something new

How could the teachers like his homework if it was not done? - annierats, Feb 5, 2014

No, they didn't like his homework, they liked it when he did it. :) - SiempreAprendo, Feb 5, 2014

Gracias por su respuesta, Helado_electrico. - SiempreAprendo, Feb 7, 2014