In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study the pluperfect subjunctive tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French.
Table of Contents
Conjugation
The pluperfect subjunctive is formed as follows:
| SP | “haber” in the imperfect subjunctive | + past participle |
| PT | “ter” or “haver” in the imperfect subjunctive | |
| IT | “avere” or “essere” in the imperfect subjunctive | |
| FR | “avoir” or “être” in the imperfect subjunctive |
In Spanish, “haber” is conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive as follows:
| -ar ending hablar | -er ending comer | -ir ending vivir | ||
| yo | hubiera | hablado | comido | vivido |
| tú | hubieras | |||
| él/ella/usted | hubiera | |||
| nosotros/-as | hubiéramos | |||
| vosotros/-as | hubierais | |||
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hubieran |
Remember that there is another accepted but less common conjugation of “haber” in the imperfect subjunctive:
| -ar ending hablar | -er ending comer | -ir ending vivir | ||
| yo | hubiese | hablado | comido | vivido |
| tú | hubieses | |||
| él/ella/usted | hubiese | |||
| nosotros/-as | hubiésemos | |||
| vosotros/-as | hubieseis | |||
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hubiesen |
In Portuguese, both “ter” and “haver” are grammatically correct and can be used interchangeably. However, the use of “haver” is usually limited to writing. In everyday language, the verb “ter” is often used, which is conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive as follows:
| -ar ending falar | -er ending comer | -ir ending partir | ||
| eu | tivesse | falado | comido | partido |
| ele/ela/você | tivesse | |||
| nós | tivéssemos | |||
| eles/elas/vocês | tivessem |
In Italian, depending on the verb, the pluperfect subjunctive uses the auxiliary “avere” or “essere” in the imperfect subjunctive, which are conjugated as follows:
| “avere” in the imperfect subjunctive | “essere” in the imperfect subjunctive | |
| io | avessi | fossi |
| tu | avessi | fossi |
| lui/lei | avesse | fosse |
| noi | avessimo | fossimo |
| voi | aveste | foste |
| loro | avessero | fossero |
In French, the pluperfect subjunctive tense remains mostly a literary tense and is rarely used. Instead, the pluperfect indicative tense is often used.
Uses of the Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense
In Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, the pluperfect subjunctive tense is mostly used to describe an event that already happened in the past, but we wish it did not happen or happened differently, or we want to discuss what would happen if we hypothetically changed that past event.
We will discuss two examples in which the pluperfect subjunctive is used:
1. The pluperfect subjunctive can be used in conditional statements to convey the meaning of the impossible past, for example:
| SP | Si hubiera estudiado medicina, … | If I had studied medicine, … |
| PT | Se eu tivesse estudado medicina, … | |
| IT | Se avessi studiato medicina, … | |
| FR | Si j’avais étudié la médecine, … | |
| SP | Si mi abuelo no hubiera muerto, … | If my grandfather hadn’t died, … |
| PT | Se meu avô não tivesse morrido, … | |
| IT | Se mio nonno non fosse morto, … | |
| FR | Si mon grand-père n’était pas mort, … |
Notice that the French examples use the pluperfect indicative tense.
The conditional statements above are usually followed by:
- a verb in simple conditional, or
- “would have” + past participle
| SP | Si hubiera estudiado medicina, sería rico hoy. | If I had studied medicine, I would be rich today. |
| PT | Se eu tivesse estudado medicina, estaria rico hoje. | |
| IT | Se avesse studiato medicina, oggi sarebbe ricco. | |
| FR | Si j’avais étudié la médecine, je serais riche aujourd’hui. | |
| SP | Si mi abuelo no hubiera muerto, habría pasado tiempo con él. [1] | If my grandfather hadn’t died, I would have spent time with him. |
| PT | Se meu avô não tivesse morrido, eu teria passado um tempo com ele. | |
| IT | Se mio nonno non fosse morto, avrei passato del tempo con lui. | |
| FR | Si mon grand-père n’était pas mort, j’aurais passé du temps avec lui. |
Another way to describe a hypothetical or impossible past is using the expression “as if,” for example:
| SP | Habla como si hubiera estudiado medicina. | He talks as if he had studied medicine. |
| PT | Ele fala como se tivesse estudado medicina. | |
| IT | Parla come se avesse studiato medicina. | |
| FR | Il parle comme s’il avait étudié la médecine. | |
| SP | Lloró como si su abuelo hubiera muerto. | He cried as if his grandfather had died. |
| PT | Ele chorou como se seu avô tivesse morrido. | |
| IT | Pianse come se suo nonno fosse morto. | |
| FR | Il a pleuré comme si son grand-père était mort. |
2. The other use of the pluperfect in the subjunctive is similar to that in the indicative mood. As studied earlier, the pluperfect in the indicative mood is used to describe the past before the simple past. If a feeling, doubt, or hope is added to the action described in the pluperfect, the subjunctive mood should be used. Let us look at the following examples for comparison:
a) Pluperfect in the indicative mood:
| SP | Habías ido a España antes de conocernos. | You had been to Spain before we met. |
| PT | Você tinha ido na Espanha antes de nos conhecermos. | |
| IT | Eri andato in Spagna prima che ci conoscessimo. | |
| FR | Vous étiez allé en Espagne avant notre rencontre. | |
| SP | Cuando visité a mi mamá, mi hermana ya había llegado. | When I visited my mom, my sister had already arrived. |
| PT | Quando fui visitar minha mãe, minha irmã já tinha chegado. | |
| IT | Quando sono andato a trovare mia madre, mia sorella era già arrivata. | |
| FR | Lorsque j’ai rendu visite à ma mère, ma sœur était déjà arrivée. |
b) Pluperfect in the subjunctive mood:
| SP | Me gustó que ya hubieras ido a España antes de conocernos. | I was delighted that you had already been to Spain before we met. |
| PT | Fiquei encantado que você já tivesso ido na Espanha antes de nos conhecermos. | |
| IT | Mi piaceva che tu fossi già andato in Spagna prima che ci conoscessimo. | |
| FR | J’étais ravi que vous étiez allé allé en Espagne avant notre rencontre. | |
| SP | Cuando visité a mi mamá, dudé que mi hermana hubiera llegado. | When I visited my mom, I doubted that my sister had arrived. |
| PT | Quando visitei minha mãe, duvidei que minha irmã já tivesse chegado. | |
| IT | Quando sono andato a trovare mia madre, dubitavo che mia sorella fosse arrivata. | |
| FR | Lorsque j’ai rendu visite à ma mère, je doutais que ma sœur était arrivée. |
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