Subjunctive exercises 7-13 and 7-14

[laepelba]

Thankfully, these are the last two exercises in the whole book. Unfortunately, I still feel like I have a LOT to learn about the subjunctive, but I'm just about out of practice material.......

Anyway, I did slightly better with these two exercises than the previous several, so I want to combine my few questions about them in one thread. Thanks, in advance, for any help you can give me.....

From 7-13:
The context is someone who has an unmarried sister who enjoys dating, but hasn't yet met a man she would like to marry. The sentence reads: "Cuando oí esto, le dije que iba a ayudarle para que yo fuera tío un día de éstos."

My question: I don't really understand the phrase that I've highlighted. I assume that "tío" is one of those nouns that doesn't require an article, right? And I have to assume that "un día de éstos" means "one of these days", right? So the sentence probably means "When I heard this, I told her that I was going to help her so that I would be an uncle one of these days." Is that right? I think it's the "fuera" that throws me off.... It just doesn't feel right..... :-/

From 7-14:
The context is someone talking about how their parents value their continued education more than they do themselves. The sentence reads: "Por supuesto, si yo obtuviera un buen trabajo después que me permitiera tener muchos lujos en la vida, esto sería fantástico, pero no voy a preocuparme tanto por eso."

My question: I am having trouble with the part that I highlighted. I think (!!) that the words I highlighted aren't exactly part of the same phrase. But I'm confused about that part. Does it mean: "Of course, if I obtained a good job after that would permit me to have many luxuries in life, that would be fantastic, but I'm not going to worry much about it."?? Even in English, I'm not comfortable with that, as the wording is awkward. But I guess that I'm confused about what the "después que" is referring to.....

Thank you!!

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by laepelba

yo fuera tío un día de éstos."

Here's my twopenneth: so that I might be 'uncle' one of these days.

Note that the English also has a subjunctive, might, the subjunctive of may. This seems to be an exact word-for-word translation, including verb mood.

Originally Posted by laepelba

después que me permitiera

después que always takes the subjunctive. You are beating yourself up trying to 'understand' it.

[aleCcowaN]

7-13: Like Perikles said. The sentence in red sounds forced. Better infinitive or the potential verb "poder": "iba a ayudarla para poder (llegar a) ser tío"

7-14: there's a pause: "si yo obtuviera un buen trabajo después ... que me permitiera ....". The usual wording "si yo obtiviera un buen trabajo después, uno que me permitiera ..." just to avoid having to parse a very complex phrase. I think it is "If I got a job later, a job that would make me affluent"

I told and tell you. Those subjunctive exercises speak with an accent, and not a native one (or at least some components are foreign).

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Here's my twopenneth: so that I might be 'uncle' one of these days.

Note that the English also has a subjunctive, might, the subjunctive of may. This seems to be an exact word-for-word translation, including verb mood.

[COLOR=red][COLOR=#000000]después que always takes the subjunctive. You are beating yourself up trying to 'understand' it.

You're right - I am beating myself up about the subjunctive ... but in this instance I totally understand why it's subjunctive. I just didn't understand the meaning of the phrase.

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

7-13: Like Perikles said. The sentence in red sounds forced. Better infinitive or the potential verb "poder": "iba a ayudarla para poder (llegar a) ser tío"

7-14: there's a pause: "si yo obtuviera un buen trabajo después ... que me permitiera ....". The usual wording "si yo obtiviera un buen trabajo después, uno que me permitiera ..." just to avoid having to parse a very complex phrase. I think it is "If I got a job later, a job that would make me affluent"

I told and tell you. Those subjunctive exercises speak with an accent, and not a native one (or at least some components are foreign).

I greatly appreciate that you keep reminding me of this. I was asking a couple of questions to a Peruvian friend the other day about one of these exercises, and she said, "Well, that must have been written by someone from Spain or something, because it doesn't sound quite right..." I told her, rather, that I think it's a gringo author.....

Anyway, 7-14 is the last exercise in the whole book..... Now I'm on to another book, this time about the use of pronouns (which I continually confuse) and prepositions (which are always tricky to learn in a new language!).

As always, though, I will continue to look for exercises about the subjunctive ... as I am convinced that I need a LOT more work on them. A while back I found a workbook called "Advanced Spanish Grammar". I'm not sure if it's too advanced for me, but I'll take a look at it and maybe start it in September as a during-the-school-year project (it's a thick book and will probably take more than a year to work through....).

Thank you both for all of the ongoing help!!