In this item: "Era recomendable que fuéramos juntos a la excursión" why is "fuéramos" and not "vayamos" used for the translation "It was recommended that we go together on the trip."?
Why not subjunctive present tense?
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Dan B.Kwiziq community member
Why not subjunctive present tense?
This question relates to:Spanish lesson "The Spanish imperfect progressive vs the Spanish preterite progressive (was +ing)"
Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher
Hola Dan
This sentence is following the natural sequence of tenses. The tense used in the main clause is the imperfect (a past tense, "era"), therefore, the clause after "que" requires Imperfect subjunctive, not the present subjunctive.
1. Es recomendable que vayamos juntos a la excursión."
2. Era recomendable que fuéramos juntos a la excursión."
The translation in English would be the same for both, using the present tense "...that we go". This may be a bit confusing. It makes you think you need the present there.
I hope this clarified it.
Saludos
Inma
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