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Me gustaria + Imperfect Subjuntive

 

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  #1  
Old November 22, 2019, 04:58 AM
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Me gustaria + Imperfect Subjuntive

How common is this construction?

For example:

Me gustaría que vinieras a mi fiesta.

The party is in the future.

I assume using the present subjunctive is more common - and it depends on the point of view of the speaker (being optimistic: present subjunctive vs. pessimistic: imperfect subjunctive.

Ojalá/Deseo/Quero/Sugiero que vengas a mi fiesta
Ojalá/Deseo/Quero/Sugiero que vinieras a mi fiesta

But how often is Me gustaria or any conditional used with the imperfect subjunctive to talk about the future?

Sería mejor que vinieras a mi fiesta.


Gracias.
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  #2  
Old November 22, 2019, 04:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aprendo View Post
How common is this construction?

Me gustaría que vinieras a mi fiesta.

This is like, I would have liked it for you to have come to the party. (The party was in the past.)

The party is in the future.

I assume using the present subjunctive is more common - and it depends on the point of view of the speaker (being optimistic: present subjunctive vs. pessimistic: imperfect subjunctive.

Ojalá/Deseo/Quero/Sugiero que vengas a mi fiesta --- this one is good if you wish to imply a future party
Ojalá/Deseo/Quero/Sugiero que vinieras a mi fiesta ---this seems wrong

But how often is Me gustaria or any conditional used with the imperfect subjunctive to talk about the future?

Sería mejor que vinieras a mi fiesta.
The conditional tense goes well with the imperfect subjunctive, and it implies the past.

The imperfect subjunctive on its own is very polite when it implies the present.
For example: Quisiera hablar con el gerente.
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Last edited by Rusty; November 22, 2019 at 08:54 PM. Reason: fixed formatting issues
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Old November 23, 2019, 01:52 PM
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"Me gustaría que vinieras a mi fiesta" is the best way to ask someone to come to my party. It uses the conditional as a polite request, and the past subjunctive agrees with the conditional.

Some people would also say "Me gustaría que vengas a mi fiesta". The speaker here has in mind the fact that the party hasn't taken place yet, and they express some certainty that the invitation will be accepted.


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Originally Posted by Aprendo View Post
Ojalá/Deseo/Quiero/Sugiero que vengas a mi fiesta
Ojalá/Deseo/Quiero/Sugiero que vinieras a mi fiesta

Be careful: saying "sugiero que vengas a mi fiesta" usually would imply a thinly veiled threat that if you don't come to my party I'll take revenge. This is not an invitation and it may be taken as an aggressive way to tell someone to do something.

- Señor, le sugiero que no me hable con ese tono. -> I will take action if the man keeps talking to me in a way I don't like.

- Te sugiero que no hables de tu trabajo durante la cena. -> It's inappropriate that you talk about your job during dinner.

- Les sugiero que se tomen el té mientras esté caliente. -> I will take bad that you let the tea get cold.

"Quiero" may be felt a little too pushy. "Quisiera" is more polite.

"Deseo" is mostly OK (the verb is not giving an order, but in present it feels kind of self-centered), but "desearía" is much more polite.

"Ojalá" is alright.



Sería mejor que vinieras a mi fiesta.

This is another way to introduce an implicit threat: if you don't come to my party, something bad may happen. Pretty cool for a mafia boss party, but not for a regular party.
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Last edited by AngelicaDeAlquezar; November 23, 2019 at 01:55 PM.
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Old November 24, 2019, 06:19 AM
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Thanks for both of you poli and Angelica and I'll note your comments and save them.

Much appreciated!

I'll take special note on "Sugiero" and "Seria mejor" also.

Gracias.
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Old November 24, 2019, 07:24 PM
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Glad you found it useful.
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Old November 24, 2019, 09:48 PM
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Oh, don't thank me because I believe I gave you bad info.

I wonder how you would say I would have liked you to have come to my party
which is what I thought me gustaría que vinieras a mi fiesta meant.
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Old November 25, 2019, 05:08 PM
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@Poli: If it had all happened in the past, we would have said "me habría gustado que vinieras a mi fiesta". The perfect tense expresses the fact that it's no longer possible that you came to my party.
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Old November 30, 2019, 04:46 AM
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"Perfect" you note as in pluscuamperfecto?
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Old November 30, 2019, 10:44 PM
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No, it was my mistake to take "perfect" as any compound tense.
I was rather thinking of the "antepospretérito", also known as "condicional compuesto" ("me habría gustado"), which is the equivalent of the third conditional in English ("I would have liked...").

The "pretérito pluscuamperfecto" (or "antecopretérito") would have been something like "me había invitado a su fiesta". The action happened and was completed all in the past.
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Old December 02, 2019, 08:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar View Post
No, it was my mistake to take "perfect" as any compound tense.
I was rather thinking of the "antepospretérito", also known as "condicional compuesto" ("me habría gustado"), which is the equivalent of the third conditional in English ("I would have liked...").

The "pretérito pluscuamperfecto" (or "antecopretérito") would have been something like "me había invitado a su fiesta". The action happened and was completed all in the past.
OK, gracias.
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