Me alegré de que hubieras venido: the subjunctive one step back

Me alegré de que hubieras venido

Outside si sentences, the pluperfect subjunctive is the subjunctive one step back. When a past trigger (emotion, doubt, denial, an impersonal phrase) reacts to something that happened earlier still, the verb after que goes into the pluperfect subjunctive:

Set it against the imperfect subjunctive, which puts both actions at the same time:

• Me alegré de que vinieras. - I was glad you came.
• Me alegré de que hubieras venido. - I was glad you had come (before).

With no trigger, the plain pluperfect does the job: Era verdad que ya habían llegado. - It was true that they had already arrived.

Ojalá hubiera: regret about the past

Ojalá with the pluperfect subjunctive wishes that the past had gone differently. It is pure regret:

The imperfect subjunctive wishes about now; the pluperfect subjunctive wishes about a past that is over:

• Ojalá tuviéramos tiempo. - I wish we had time (now).
• Ojalá hubiéramos tenido tiempo. - I wish we had had time (then).

The same step back works after como si: Ella actuó como si nada hubiera pasado. - She acted as if nothing had happened. More in si clauses.

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