Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive Practice

Q: How do you form the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish?

Take the third-person plural (ellos) of the preterite, drop the -ron ending, and add the subjunctive endings: hablaron → hablara, comieron → comiera, vivieron → viviera. The nosotros form adds a written accent on the vowel before -ramos: habláramos, comiéramos, viviéramos.

Q: What's the difference between the -ra and -se forms?

They are two equal ending sets that mean exactly the same thing. You can say tuviera or tuviese, hablaran or hablasen. The -ra endings (-ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran) are more common in speech; the -se endings (-se, -ses, -se, -semos, -seis, -sen) are equally correct and slightly more formal or literary.

Q: Which verbs are irregular in the imperfect subjunctive?

None have their own irregular forms — they simply inherit the preterite stem. If a verb is irregular in the preterite, that irregularity carries over: tener → tuvieron → tuviera, ser/ir → fueron → fuera, hacer → hicieron → hiciera, poder → pudieron → pudiera, decir → dijeron → dijera (no i after the j), estar → estuviera, haber → hubiera, dar → diera, poner → pusiera, venir → viniera, querer → quisiera.

Q: When do you use the imperfect subjunctive?

Use it after a past-tense main clause that triggers the subjunctive (Quería que vinieras, Era importante que estudiaras), in unreal or hypothetical si clauses (Si tuviera dinero…), after ojalá to express a wish (Ojalá pudiera), and after como si to mean as if (Habla como si supiera todo). Polite quisiera also uses this tense.

Q: How do si clauses pair the imperfect subjunctive with the conditional?

For unreal or hypothetical situations in the present, the si-half takes the imperfect subjunctive and the result-half takes the conditional: Si tuviera dinero, viajaría (If I had money, I would travel). The two halves always go together — never use the conditional after si itself.

Q: Are these exercises free?

Yes. All 30 exercises run in your browser, need no signup, and explain every answer using the ellos-preterite rule.

Question 1

El profesor quería que yo ___ más en clase. (hablar)

Accepted Answer

hablara. Take the ellos preterite hablaron, drop -ron, add -ra: hablara. The past-tense main verb quería triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 2

Era importante que ellos ___ bien antes del examen. (comer)

Accepted Answer

comieran. From comieron drop -ron and add -an: comieran. The impersonal past expression era importante que takes the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 3

Mis padres esperaban que nosotros ___ cerca de ellos. (vivir)

Accepted Answer

viviéramos. From vivieron drop -ron and add -ramos, with a written accent on the vowel before -ramos: viviéramos.

Question 4

El médico recomendó que ___ más despacio. (caminar / nosotros)

Accepted Answer

camináramos. The nosotros form always adds a written accent on the vowel before -ramos: caminaron → camináramos.

Question 5

Ojalá yo ___ más tiempo libre. (tener)

Accepted Answer

tuviera. Tener has the preterite stem tuv-: tuvieron → tuviera. Ojalá + imperfect subjunctive expresses a wish about the present.

Question 6

Si yo ___ tú, aceptaría el trabajo. (ser)

Accepted Answer

fuera. Ser and ir share the preterite fueron → fuera. In an unreal si clause the si-half takes the imperfect subjunctive and the result uses the conditional (aceptaría).

Question 7

Le pedí que ___ la tarea antes de salir. (hacer)

Accepted Answer

hiciera. Hacer has the preterite stem hic-: hicieron → hiciera. The past verb pedí triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 8

Ojalá ella ___ venir a la fiesta. (poder)

Accepted Answer

pudiera. Poder has the preterite stem pud-: pudieron → pudiera. Ojalá + imperfect subjunctive expresses an unlikely wish.

Question 9

No creía que tú me ___ la verdad. (decir)

Accepted Answer

dijeras. Decir has the preterite stem dij-: dijeron → dijera, dijeras (no i after the j). The past verb no creía triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 10

Quería que nosotros ___ juntos ese día. (estar)

Accepted Answer

estuviéramos. Estar has the preterite stem estuv-: estuvieron → estuviera, and the nosotros form adds the accent: estuviéramos.

Question 11

Ojalá ___ una solución más fácil. (haber)

Accepted Answer

hubiera. Haber has the preterite stem hub-: hubieron → hubiera. As with hay, this form is invariable: Ojalá hubiera una solución.

Question 12

Le sugerí que me ___ una segunda oportunidad. (dar)

Accepted Answer

diera. Dar has the preterite dieron → diera. The past verb sugerí triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 13

Me molestó que ellos ___ la música tan alta. (poner)

Accepted Answer

pusieran. Poner has the preterite stem pus-: pusieron → pusiera, pusieran. The past emotion verb molestó triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 14

Quería que ___ conmigo al concierto. (venir / tú)

Accepted Answer

vinieras. Venir has the preterite stem vin-: vinieron → viniera, vinieras. The past verb quería triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 15

Dudaba que ellos ___ ayudarnos. (querer)

Accepted Answer

quisieran. Querer has the preterite stem quis-: quisieron → quisiera, quisieran. The past verb dudaba triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 16

Si ___ dinero, viajaría por todo el mundo. (tener / yo)

Accepted Answer

tuviera. In an unreal si clause about the present, the si-half uses the imperfect subjunctive (tuviera) and pairs with the conditional result (viajaría).

Question 17

Which si clause is wrong?

Accepted Answer

Si tendría dinero, viajaría.. You never use the conditional right after si. It should be Si tuviera dinero, viajaría — the si-half takes the imperfect subjunctive (tuvieron → tuviera) and the result-half takes the conditional.

Question 18

Gasta el dinero como si ___ millonario. (ser)

Accepted Answer

fuera. Como si (as if) always takes the imperfect subjunctive: ser → fueron → fuera.

Question 19

Which sentence requires the imperfect subjunctive?

Accepted Answer

Habla como si lo ___ todo.. Como si (as if) always takes the imperfect subjunctive: Habla como si lo supiera todo (from supieron → supiera). Statements of fact and belief take the indicative.

Question 20

___ reservar una mesa para dos, por favor. (querer / yo)

Accepted Answer

Quisiera. The imperfect subjunctive quisiera (from quisieron → quisiera) is used to soften a request: it means I would like, more polite than quiero.

Question 21

Which is the correct imperfect subjunctive of hacer for yo?

Accepted Answer

hiciera. Build it from the ellos preterite hicieron: drop -ron and add -a → hiciera.

Question 22

Which sentence has an imperfect subjunctive error?

Accepted Answer

Ojalá yo tendría más dinero.. Ojalá is followed by the imperfect subjunctive, not the conditional: it should be Ojalá yo tuviera más dinero (from tuvieron → tuviera).

Question 23

Me pidió que ___ el informe en voz alta. (leer / yo)

Accepted Answer

leyera. Leer has the preterite stem with a y: leyeron → leyera. The past verb pidió triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 24

No creía que ellos me ___ tanto dinero. (pedir)

Accepted Answer

pidieran. Pedir has the e→i preterite stem: pidieron → pidiera, pidieran. The past verb no creía triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 25

La madre quería que el bebé ___ toda la noche. (dormir)

Accepted Answer

durmiera. Dormir has the o→u preterite stem: durmieron → durmiera. The past verb quería triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 26

Le rogué que ___ los documentos a la reunión. (traer / él)

Accepted Answer

trajera. Traer has the preterite stem traj-: trajeron → trajera (no i after the j). The past verb rogué triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 27

Buscaba a alguien que ___ hablar chino. (saber)

Accepted Answer

supiera. Saber has the preterite stem sup-: supieron → supiera. The past search for an unknown person (buscaba a alguien que) triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 28

Sería mejor que ella ___ con más cuidado. (conducir)

Accepted Answer

condujera. Conducir has the preterite stem conduj-: condujeron → condujera (no i after the j). The conditional sería mejor que triggers the imperfect subjunctive.

Question 29

Which sentence has an imperfect subjunctive error?

Accepted Answer

Le dije que condujiera con cuidado.. Verbs with a -j- preterite stem drop the i of the ending: conducir → condujeron → condujera, not condujiera. The same happens with dijera and trajera.

Question 30

Which is the correct imperfect subjunctive of andar for yo?

Accepted Answer

anduviera. Andar has the irregular preterite stem anduv-: build the imperfect subjunctive from anduvieron, drop -ron and add -a → anduviera. Similarly caber → cupieron → cupiera.

Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive Practice

The rule, in plain English.

Practice.

Other topics.

Subjunctive Practice

Spanish Conditional Tense Practice

Spanish Preterite Practice

Common questions.