Spanish · Chapter 25 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
The imperfect subjunctive: forms
Take the ellos-preterite, drop -ron, add the endings - both the -ra and the -se sets (hablara/hablase), the nosotros accent, and every preterite irregular carried straight over (tuviera, fuera, dijera). A sister lesson covers si-clauses.
The short version
The scariest tense steals its stem from the preterite
Take the ellos preterite, knock off the -ron, add the endings, and you are done. Hablaron gives hablara, tuvieron gives tuviera, fueron gives fuera. It has no irregulars of its own, only the ones the preterite already had. The single thing to watch is the compulsory accent on nosotros: tuviéramos.
Si yo fuera rico, no trabajaría.
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