How would we express wish and feeling about events in the past?

Marcos G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

How would we express wish and feeling about events in the past?

For example,

"It bothers us that you never studied Spanish", or

"I'm so happy that your boyfriend went to Harvard".

"I wish we had met sooner"

Would we use the imperfect subjunctive?

Thanks.

Asked 2 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Marcos

Yes you can express a feeling or wish about something in the past. Using your examples we'd say:

Nos molesta que nunca estudiaras español/que nunca hayas estudiado español.

Estoy tan contento de que tu novio fuera a Harvard/ haya ido a Harvard.

Ojalá nos hubiéramos conocido antes. 

On the last one with ojalá you can only use the pluperfect subjunctive though. (hubiéramos conocido) 

We do have a few lessons on both the conjugation of past tenses in the subjunctive or uses of them (not only expressing wish and feeling but also uncertainty) You can see some examples here:

Using the Spanish subjunctive to express doubt or uncertainty

Using the Spanish present perfect subjunctive after esperar que to express a completed action in the past

Querer que followed by the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish

Conjugate Spanish regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in present perfect subjunctive tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo)

Saludos

Inma

Marcos G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Kwiziq has a lot of good info but sometimes it's possible to get lost in the details.  I'd like to make a suggestion that there be chapter summaries such as "Review of Expressing Wish and Feeling in All Time Frames" or "When to Use the Different Subjunctive Tenses".  Thanks for considering.

InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola Marcos

Thanks for your suggestion. We are considering some wider articles for certain topics. The ones you are mentioning are worth considering of course. We´ll have this in mind.

Saludos cordiales

Marcos G. asked:

How would we express wish and feeling about events in the past?

For example,

"It bothers us that you never studied Spanish", or

"I'm so happy that your boyfriend went to Harvard".

"I wish we had met sooner"

Would we use the imperfect subjunctive?

Thanks.

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