Tuvo vs. Tuvieras

Question

I am trying to say:

''If you had to choose which of the things helped you the most''.

My first reaction is to start out saying ''Si tuvo que escoger...'' however part of me feels that this might be time for the weird imperfect subjunctive (tuvieras). If so, why?

Answer 1

There is nothing weird about the preterite imperfect subjunctive tense, which is what is required in your sentence. It would make no sense at all to use simple preterite here because the action is only hypothetical - it has not happened. To use preterite here would make the sentence sound weird.

Neat answer. - annierats, Jul 25, 2015