Spanish 6.4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense

The pluperfect in the subjunctive mood has different uses than the pluperfect in the indicative mood. In Spanish, the pluperfect subjunctive tense describes an event that already happened in the past, but we wish it did not happen or happened differently, or we want to discuss what would happen if we hypothetically changed that past event.

Conjugation

“Haber” in the imperfect subjunctive + past participle

The verb “haber” in the imperfect subjunctive is conjugated as follows:

		-ar ending hablar	-er ending comer	-ir ending vivir
yo	hubiera	hablado	comido	vivido
tú	hubieras
él/ella/usted	hubiera
nosotros/-as	hubiéramos
vosotros/-as	hubierais
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hubieran

Uses of the Pluperfect Subjunctive

We will discuss three uses of the pluperfect subjunctive tense in Spanish:

1. One common use is with the word “ojalá,” which roughly translates as “I wish” or “we wish,” for example:

Ojalá hubiera estudiado medicina.	I wish I had studied medicine.
Ojalá mi abuelo no hubiera muerto.	I wish my grandfather hadn’t died.

In all the events described in the above sentences, it is clear that it is impossible to change the past. Therefore, any wish to even hypothetically talk about such a change must be expressed in the pluperfect subjunctive.

Read also: Uses of “Ojalá” in Spanish

2. The pluperfect subjunctive is also used in conditional statements to convey the above meaning of the impossible past, for example:

Si hubiera estudiado medicina, …	If I had studied medicine, …
Si mi abuelo no hubiera muerto, …	If my grandfather hadn’t died, …

The conditional statements above are usually followed by

• a verb in simple conditional, or
• “would have” + past participle

Si hubiera estudiado medicina, sería rico hoy.	If I had studied medicine, I would be rich today.
Si mi abuelo no hubiera muerto, habría pasado tiempo con él.	If my grandfather hadn’t died, I would have spent time with him.

In the last example, it is not uncommon to hear “habría” replaced with “hubiera” in informal conversation, e.g., “Si mi abuelo no hubiera muerto, hubiera pasado tiempo con él.” According to the RAE, this sentence is grammatically acceptable.

Another way to describe a hypothetical or impossible past is using the expression “como si,” translated as “as if,” for example:

Habla como si hubiera estudiado medicina.	He talks as if he had studied medicine.
Lloró como si su abuelo hubiera muerto.	He cried as if his grandfather had died.

3. One use of the pluperfect in the subjunctive is similar to that in the indicative mood. We know that the pluperfect in the indicative mood describes the past before the simple past. If we add doubt or hope, for example, to the described action in the pluperfect, we should use the subjunctive mood. Let us look at the following examples for comparison:

a) Pluperfect in the indicative mood:

Antes de conocernos, habías ido a España.	Before we met, you had been to Spain.
Cuando visité a mi mamá, mi hermana ya había llegado.	When I visited my mom, my sister had already arrived.

b) Pluperfect in the subjunctive mood:

Antes de conocernos, me gustó que ya hubieras ido a España.	Before we met, I was delighted that you had already been to Spain.
Cuando visité a mi mamá, dudé que mi hermana hubiera llegado.	When I visited my mom, I doubted that my sister had already arrived.

Finally, remember that there is another correct but less common conjugation of “haber” in the pluperfect subjunctive. For example, we could replace “hubiera” in the above examples with “hubiese,” which does not change the meaning.

Next: Use of “Aunque,” “Si Bien,” and “A Pesar de”

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