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#1
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Imperfect Subjunctive
Are the sentences below correct?
Los jefes ‘quieren' a alguien que ‘hable’ italiano para este verano. - The bosses ‘want’ someone who ‘speaks’ Italian for this summer. Los jefes ‘querían’ a alguien que ‘hable’ italiano para este verano. - The bosses ‘wanted’ someone who ‘speaks’ Italian for this summer. Los jefes ‘querían’ a alguien que ‘hablara’ italiano para el verano pasado. - The bosses ‘wanted’ someone who ‘spoke’ Italian for last summer. Is it possible to use ‘hablara’ instead of ‘hable’ in the second set, while still retaining the present tense meaning of ‘speaks’?: Los jefes ‘querían’ a alguien que ‘hablara’ italiano para este verano. - The bosses ‘want’ someone who ‘speaks’ Italian for this summer. Many thanks in advance. |
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#2
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Although the use of present subjunctive with an imperfect verb is getting common in colloquial speech, the best is to use a past subjunctive. It's the past situation, more than the current capabilities of the Italian speaker what define the conjugation.
- No quería que le dieras a Juan mi número de teléfono. - No quería que le des a Juan mi número de teléfono. - Los niños pedían que les leyéramos un cuento. - Los niños pedían que les leamos un cuento. (Even if the children aren't asking anymore, and still want us to read the story, the conjugation agreement sounds awkward.) - Buscábamos que el nuevo gobierno fuera más honesto. - Buscábamos que el nuevo gobierno sea más honesto. (Even if the demand for a more honest government is still valid, the verb sounds much better in past subjunctive.)
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#3
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Thanks a million, AngelicaDeAlquezar.
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#4
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I'm glad it helped.
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