Tenía la esperanza de que
 

Hi everyone

I'm looking at examples of how to use "Tenía la esperanza de que" and most times, the subjunctive is used, but sometimes the present indicative and conditional are used.*

Are the three tenses interchangeable? Or does the meaning change?

For example, does "Tenía la esperanza de que al menos se quedaría en el Ministerio" mean the same thing as "Tenía la esperanza de que al menos se quede en el Ministerio"?

And does "Tenía la esperanza de que usted puede ser que crecer en esta casa" mean the same as "Tenía la esperanza de que pueda crecer en esta casa"?


Thanks


*http://context.reverso.net/traduccio...had+hoped+that

The past subjunctive is the grammatically correct agreement with "tenía la esperanza de que".
When you use this expression, it means that you had been hoping for something in the past, so it either happened or not, but you don't hope anymore for something that still could happen; so the present subjunctive is not appropriate because it corresponds to something that is still possible, and the present indicative makes no sense.

So:
-Tenía la esperanza de que al menos se quedaría en el Ministerio. -> They didn't keep the job.
-Tengo la esperanza de que al menos se quede en el Ministerio. -> They might still keep the job.

I've noticed that in some regions in South America the past subjunctive is disappearing to be replaced by the present subjunctive, so they might say "tenía la esperanza de que se quede...", even when this is something that did not happen, but this is not a generalized usage.


As for: "Tenía la esperanza de que usted puede ser que crecer en esta casa", it doesn't make any sense. "Puede ser que" needs a conjugated verb, but "crecer" is an infinitive; and we're neglecting the fact that "tenía la esperanza de que" needs a subjunctive.
In any case: "tenía la esperanza de que pudiera ser que usted creciera en esta casa", but it sounds long and rather clumsy.
Your proposal as "tenía la esperanza de que pueda crecer en esta casa" is better, but I still suggest to use the past subjunctive: "tenía la esperanza de que pudiera usted crecer en esta casa".

I think most times I use the phrase "I had hoped that" it would be to talk about something I had hoped for and it didn't end up happening. In that case, would the past subjunctive and conditional be interchangeable?

In the case where the thing you had hope for does end up happening, would "Tenía la esperanza de que + the imperfect subjunctive" translate as "I was hoping"?

E.g. Does "Tenía la esperanza de que lo dijeras" translate as "I was hoping you'd say that."

I think the conditional and the past subjunctive are interchangeable with "tenía la esperanza de que", but I still prefer the subjunctive. :thinking:
- Tenía la esperanza de que vendrías. = Tenía la esperanza de que vinieras.

The context will tell the best translation for this kind of expressions. If you had some certainty about what would happen, you may just say "Esperaba que lo dijeras"/ "esperaba que dijeras eso", because you saw your hope confirmed. :)
When uncertainty is higher, you may keep "tenía la esperanza de que", because it expresses that I was finding this event unlikely.
Conjugations and tenses rarely have a fixed translation. ;(

Cheers. Thanks