Translate "hubiere"

Question

What is the English translation for "hubiere"?

The reason I need this is for my "haber" conjugation. ...Thanks!

[yo] hubiere {'ouh-bee-EHRR-eh' ...English_translation...? //Future Subjunctive //irregular}

[yo] hubiere habido {'ouh-bee-EHRR-ah ah-BEE-doh' ...English_translation...? //Future Perfect Subjunctive}

Why are you obsessed with "haber" ,I have travelled throughout Spain and Middle America and never had to use it , just learn to speak conversation Spanish and get over it ,I for one am sick to death of it . - ray76, Sep 3, 2016

Should I not be "obsessed" with it? Doesn't it mean "had"? So, besides "I had an idea", would it also be used in "I had had an idea" and "I had gone home"? - markfilipak, Sep 6, 2016

Answer 1

hubiere has no translation in English. The future subjunctive is obsolete in Spanish. It may be used in other countries, but I know that many native speakers wouldn't use it.

Oshnaj: "The future subjunctive is obsolete" -- obsolete in English or obsolete in Spanish? Thanks! - markfilipak, Sep 2, 2016

Spanish. I'll add that. - Oshnaj, Sep 2, 2016

Es más usado en lenguaje jurídico. It is most commonly used in legal language. - BrianTw, Sep 2, 2016

Thank you, Brian! That's excellent insight. Used in legal language... can you give me an example with translation? - markfilipak, Sep 2, 2016

It is also used in the Spanish Bible. However as "haber" is an auxiliary verb, "hubiere habido" would make no sense at all. - Daniela2041, Sep 2, 2016

Mark, you might try www.linguee.es/ and context.reverso.net/ - jtaniel, Sep 2, 2016

Thank you! - rac1, Sep 2, 2016

Re: www.linguee.es, I don't have a smart phone & I don't speak Spanish. Got something in English? - markfilipak, Sep 6, 2016

Daniela, "...However as "haber" is an auxiliary verb..." What does that mean? What is an "Auxillary verb". Google T says it's "had had". - markfilipak, Sep 6, 2016

Answer 2

Since the Subjunctive is very weak in it's use in English. It is difficult to translate a form that is rarely used in Spanish into a form that doesn't even exist in English. It describes a hypothetical future action in the Subjunctive. Haber used in perfect tenses and the form hay would be possible places to use this verb form. So say you have a sentence: Espero que en unos días hubiere venido. I would say you can translate it: I hope that in a few days you might come. "Might" is used in a Future Subjunctive sense in English in sentences like "And when might we expect you to do that?"

But as the 2 previous members have advised it's probably not very practical to learn to use it. And in my opinion is it really difficult to translate in general and depends on context.

Jubilado, I think you mean in the last line of your answer: it is (not,,, is it?) really difficult to translate in general and depends on context. - FELIZ77, Sep 2, 2016

You're correct, Feliz, thank you. - Jubilado, Sep 2, 2016

Thanks Jubi. - rac1, Sep 2, 2016

The present subjunctive replaces it. Which is haya. - jmaulano, Sep 5, 2016

Answer 3

Haber can mean to have and there are, but it is mostly used as an auxiliary verb.

As Oshnaj said, it is no longer used in contemporary Spanish. We use present subjunctive in its place because even though it is present, because being subjunctive it indicates future action simply because this action has not yet happened.

Thanks Julian. - rac1, Sep 2, 2016