Using the imperfect indicative vs. subjunctive with siIndicative vs. subjunctive in “no importa qué dice...
If nine coins are tossed, what is the probability that the number of heads is even?
Using the imperfect indicative vs. subjunctive with si
Iron deposits mined from under the city
What can I do if someone tampers with my SSH public key?
Has a sovereign Communist government ever run, and conceded loss, on a fair election?
Is it a Cyclops number? "Nobody" knows!
Align equations with text before one of them
Professor forcing me to attend a conference
What is the meaning of option 'by' in TikZ Intersections
What is the purpose of a disclaimer like "this is not legal advice"?
An Undercover Army
Can a space-faring robot still function over a billion years?
I've given my players a lot of magic items. Is it reasonable for me to give them harder encounters?
Should we avoid writing fiction about historical events without extensive research?
How do you make a gun that shoots melee weapons and/or swords?
In the world of The Matrix, what is "popping"?
Giving a talk in my old university, how prominently should I tell students my salary?
What's the best tool for cutting holes into duct work?
What is "desert glass" and what does it do to the PCs?
PTIJ: Aliyot for the deceased
Is there a frame of reference in which I was born before I was conceived?
Short story about an infectious indestructible metal bar?
Sundering Titan and basic normal lands and snow lands
Are there other characters in the Star Wars universe who had damaged bodies and needed to wear an outfit like Darth Vader?
Using the imperfect indicative vs. subjunctive with si
Indicative vs. subjunctive in “no importa qué dice el destino”Subjunctive with “asegurar”Difference between -iera and -iese ending of the imperfect subjunctiveFuture subjunctive vs future indicative vs conditionalUsing “atrás” with “volver”Object pronouns with the subjunctiveSubjunctive with antesImperfect Subjunctive with present tense independent clause?Using the present indicative to communicate about the futureCan past perfect indicative be an alternative to imperfect subjunctive?
I came across a sentence in Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal that has me a bit puzzled:
¿Se estaba imaginando cosas? ¿O podría todo aquello tener algo que ver
con los Potter? Si fuera así... si se descubría que ellos eran
parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
I'm learning Spanish after having learned French, and I thought it was interesting that the si clauses in the French are a bit simpler:
Mr Dursley imaginait-il des choses ? Tout cela avait-il un lien avec
les Potter ? Si c’était le cas… S’il s’avérait qu’ils étaient parents
avec des… Non, il ne pourrait jamais le supporter.
How does one decide in Spanish whether to use the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría)?
gramática subjuntivo
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I came across a sentence in Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal that has me a bit puzzled:
¿Se estaba imaginando cosas? ¿O podría todo aquello tener algo que ver
con los Potter? Si fuera así... si se descubría que ellos eran
parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
I'm learning Spanish after having learned French, and I thought it was interesting that the si clauses in the French are a bit simpler:
Mr Dursley imaginait-il des choses ? Tout cela avait-il un lien avec
les Potter ? Si c’était le cas… S’il s’avérait qu’ils étaient parents
avec des… Non, il ne pourrait jamais le supporter.
How does one decide in Spanish whether to use the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría)?
gramática subjuntivo
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I came across a sentence in Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal that has me a bit puzzled:
¿Se estaba imaginando cosas? ¿O podría todo aquello tener algo que ver
con los Potter? Si fuera así... si se descubría que ellos eran
parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
I'm learning Spanish after having learned French, and I thought it was interesting that the si clauses in the French are a bit simpler:
Mr Dursley imaginait-il des choses ? Tout cela avait-il un lien avec
les Potter ? Si c’était le cas… S’il s’avérait qu’ils étaient parents
avec des… Non, il ne pourrait jamais le supporter.
How does one decide in Spanish whether to use the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría)?
gramática subjuntivo
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I came across a sentence in Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal that has me a bit puzzled:
¿Se estaba imaginando cosas? ¿O podría todo aquello tener algo que ver
con los Potter? Si fuera así... si se descubría que ellos eran
parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
I'm learning Spanish after having learned French, and I thought it was interesting that the si clauses in the French are a bit simpler:
Mr Dursley imaginait-il des choses ? Tout cela avait-il un lien avec
les Potter ? Si c’était le cas… S’il s’avérait qu’ils étaient parents
avec des… Non, il ne pourrait jamais le supporter.
How does one decide in Spanish whether to use the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría)?
gramática subjuntivo
gramática subjuntivo
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
asked 3 hours ago
Alan O'DonnellAlan O'Donnell
1162
1162
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
You could also say:
- Si era así... si se descubría que ellos eran parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
The imperfect indicative sounds more realistic, and is always past, while the imperfect subjunctive sounds more hypothetical and may point to the future.
What I don't like is "creía": I'd do away with it and write just "no podría soportarlo", but the original must have required the introduction of that verb of thinking.
Going back to your original sentence, let's see the two variants with their interpretations:
Si era así, no podría soportarlo. (If it was --in fact-- like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it).
Si fuera así, no podría soportarlo. (Past meaning: If it happened to be like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it / Present or future meaning: If it was/were like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it.)
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
add a comment |
According to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (the "official" Spanish dictionary on frequent grammatical, lexical, and orthographical questions), you can use both the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría): they are interchangeable.
a) Si la condición se refiere al presente o al futuro, la prótasis va en pretérito imperfecto o copretérito de subjuntivo y la apódosis en condicional simple o pospretérito
Translation:
a) If the conditional sentence refers to hypothetical situations in the present or the future, the if clause must use the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive, and the main clause must use the conditional.
Therefore, I would disagree with Gustavson's answer. The use of the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive doesn't really matter. Both sentences would be semantically the same since both are expressing an hypothetical situations in the present or the future.
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "353"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspanish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f28827%2fusing-the-imperfect-indicative-vs-subjunctive-with-si%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
You could also say:
- Si era así... si se descubría que ellos eran parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
The imperfect indicative sounds more realistic, and is always past, while the imperfect subjunctive sounds more hypothetical and may point to the future.
What I don't like is "creía": I'd do away with it and write just "no podría soportarlo", but the original must have required the introduction of that verb of thinking.
Going back to your original sentence, let's see the two variants with their interpretations:
Si era así, no podría soportarlo. (If it was --in fact-- like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it).
Si fuera así, no podría soportarlo. (Past meaning: If it happened to be like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it / Present or future meaning: If it was/were like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it.)
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
add a comment |
You could also say:
- Si era así... si se descubría que ellos eran parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
The imperfect indicative sounds more realistic, and is always past, while the imperfect subjunctive sounds more hypothetical and may point to the future.
What I don't like is "creía": I'd do away with it and write just "no podría soportarlo", but the original must have required the introduction of that verb of thinking.
Going back to your original sentence, let's see the two variants with their interpretations:
Si era así, no podría soportarlo. (If it was --in fact-- like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it).
Si fuera así, no podría soportarlo. (Past meaning: If it happened to be like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it / Present or future meaning: If it was/were like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it.)
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
add a comment |
You could also say:
- Si era así... si se descubría que ellos eran parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
The imperfect indicative sounds more realistic, and is always past, while the imperfect subjunctive sounds more hypothetical and may point to the future.
What I don't like is "creía": I'd do away with it and write just "no podría soportarlo", but the original must have required the introduction of that verb of thinking.
Going back to your original sentence, let's see the two variants with their interpretations:
Si era así, no podría soportarlo. (If it was --in fact-- like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it).
Si fuera así, no podría soportarlo. (Past meaning: If it happened to be like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it / Present or future meaning: If it was/were like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it.)
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
You could also say:
- Si era así... si se descubría que ellos eran parientes de unos... bueno, creía que no podría soportarlo.
The imperfect indicative sounds more realistic, and is always past, while the imperfect subjunctive sounds more hypothetical and may point to the future.
What I don't like is "creía": I'd do away with it and write just "no podría soportarlo", but the original must have required the introduction of that verb of thinking.
Going back to your original sentence, let's see the two variants with their interpretations:
Si era así, no podría soportarlo. (If it was --in fact-- like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it).
Si fuera así, no podría soportarlo. (Past meaning: If it happened to be like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it / Present or future meaning: If it was/were like that, he wouldn't be able to cope with it.)
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
answered 2 hours ago
GustavsonGustavson
8,9221828
8,9221828
add a comment |
add a comment |
According to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (the "official" Spanish dictionary on frequent grammatical, lexical, and orthographical questions), you can use both the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría): they are interchangeable.
a) Si la condición se refiere al presente o al futuro, la prótasis va en pretérito imperfecto o copretérito de subjuntivo y la apódosis en condicional simple o pospretérito
Translation:
a) If the conditional sentence refers to hypothetical situations in the present or the future, the if clause must use the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive, and the main clause must use the conditional.
Therefore, I would disagree with Gustavson's answer. The use of the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive doesn't really matter. Both sentences would be semantically the same since both are expressing an hypothetical situations in the present or the future.
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
add a comment |
According to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (the "official" Spanish dictionary on frequent grammatical, lexical, and orthographical questions), you can use both the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría): they are interchangeable.
a) Si la condición se refiere al presente o al futuro, la prótasis va en pretérito imperfecto o copretérito de subjuntivo y la apódosis en condicional simple o pospretérito
Translation:
a) If the conditional sentence refers to hypothetical situations in the present or the future, the if clause must use the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive, and the main clause must use the conditional.
Therefore, I would disagree with Gustavson's answer. The use of the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive doesn't really matter. Both sentences would be semantically the same since both are expressing an hypothetical situations in the present or the future.
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
add a comment |
According to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (the "official" Spanish dictionary on frequent grammatical, lexical, and orthographical questions), you can use both the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría): they are interchangeable.
a) Si la condición se refiere al presente o al futuro, la prótasis va en pretérito imperfecto o copretérito de subjuntivo y la apódosis en condicional simple o pospretérito
Translation:
a) If the conditional sentence refers to hypothetical situations in the present or the future, the if clause must use the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive, and the main clause must use the conditional.
Therefore, I would disagree with Gustavson's answer. The use of the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive doesn't really matter. Both sentences would be semantically the same since both are expressing an hypothetical situations in the present or the future.
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
According to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas (the "official" Spanish dictionary on frequent grammatical, lexical, and orthographical questions), you can use both the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) or the imperfect indicative (se descubría): they are interchangeable.
a) Si la condición se refiere al presente o al futuro, la prótasis va en pretérito imperfecto o copretérito de subjuntivo y la apódosis en condicional simple o pospretérito
Translation:
a) If the conditional sentence refers to hypothetical situations in the present or the future, the if clause must use the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive, and the main clause must use the conditional.
Therefore, I would disagree with Gustavson's answer. The use of the imperfect indicative or the imperfect subjunctive doesn't really matter. Both sentences would be semantically the same since both are expressing an hypothetical situations in the present or the future.
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
answered 1 hour ago
prm296prm296
933114
933114
add a comment |
add a comment |
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Alan O'Donnell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Spanish Language Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspanish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f28827%2fusing-the-imperfect-indicative-vs-subjunctive-with-si%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
