I am currently in Colombia in Spanish school and these videos are perfect to pull everything together that I learned from class. Please do not stop these! The combination of your videos and immersing myself in the culture here will soon get me to that C1 level I’m looking for!! Thanks for everything
"if you use coger they think you might be doing something else to the train"... that's so funny !! ... Always a pleasure and a wonderful learning experience watching your channel, THANK YOU.
After months of trying to put the subjunctive and the conditional together your video Paul has helped the penny drop. I am so thankful. Your videos are the BEST
Great lesson Paul. Right on time. The "ria" and "ado" "ido" and "iera", or the imperfect conditional preterite pluperfect tenses, give me fits! Seriously, I have been watching this video over and over, and I am slowly starting to get it. Please make more covering these structures.
"doing something else to the train"...Dios mio 😂 Love your grammar videos, Paul. I learn through "comprehensible input" and don't usually watch or read about grammar explanations, but I'm a fan of your clarity and concision!
Si tuviera otra oportunidad, viajaría en Costa Rica de nuevo.😁 Gracias Paul por ayudarme repasar esta gramática tan importante porque siempre damos avisos a los demás.👍 Si no hubiera mudarme a España, no tendría tantas ganas de perfeccionar mi español. 😜 Voy a practicar esta expresión muy útil hoy: ' ¡Si yo fuera tú, no haría eso! = If I were you I wouldn't do that!🎯😉
When you left time for us to translate, I felt like I was in grade school taking a class everyone is breezing through the test turning in, and im not even halfway done. I breezed through the other subjunctive videos, gained confidence, then this video...im on the struggle bus 😂😂
Thanks. I am listing to it in audio. I will read It. Gaston García Cantú Las invasiones norteamericano en México is the Bible of the reconquistedoro movemento.
Que le haces algo raro al tren... me hizo reir 😂😂😂... Explicas muy bien incluso para gente que habla español. Me gustaron muchos estos videos del subjuntivo.
Hola Paul , que tal /que mas! ;) Best explanation ever on subjunctive/ conditional/pluperfect subjunctive! En serio! Probablemente habría podido aprender francés en Canadá años atrás cuando estaba en la escuela, si hubieran enseñado de tu manera!!! Muchísimas gracias por el video hoy, Suerte!!
Great video. Oh Thank you for the print out to the side. I watch a little, rewind, pause, take notes…. Press play… repeat. It’s really good. I need to dedicate separate time to watching your videos with hands free so I can do this, I tend to want to watch while I do brainless boring kitchen work with my hands busy. But, there is great material here. Thank you. Obviously I am being mentally starved by my current lifestyle. I can tell you just got back from CR by your beautiful soft Costa Rican “ r” .
¡Qué lección tan útil para cualquier estudiante de español! Vale la pena mencionar que de hecho, en español hay otra manera de decir "If I were you" que es «Yo que tú». Por ejemplo: Yo que tú, aceptaría su oferta de trabajo. No vas a encontrar nada mejor.
That was great. Thank you. There's a lot in there but I was doing pretty well until the final example when for some reason it all went wrong! Still I understood where so.......
Super helpful. I'd just learned simple and compuesto conditional and realised I needed more to be able to say what I needed - great timing!! :) and a great way to try and stop avoiding any form of subjunctive tense!!
Could you do a video on haber where you use it in all 7 simple tenses and the imperative explaining when to use it and what it means in each of those tenses?
Waiting for the day when I understand all of these conditional, subjunctive, preterite, past tense and so on. It’s so much to try to remember just to become fluent. I Can Never remember
I’m so happy that you resumed making these wonderful videos, Paul, and on so many useful topics. However this one is way over my head. In my Spanish class we have just done the conditional but haven’t studied the other forms yet. In three days I’m leaving for Ecuador, where I’ll travel around on my own for seven weeks. Hope to use what I’ve learned and, if there’s internet, watch more of your videos and take notes in the evening.
This is definitely a more advanced topic. I make videos for people at all different levels. Although this one was too advanced for you right now, maybe down the road it won't be and you'll know where to find it. :)
I do lessons for all skill levels and this one was definitely at high intermediate. Don't let it get you down. You'll get there if you stick with it. My goal was always to be a little better at Spanish than I was the day before. It worked out better than I could have hoped.
@QrooSpanish Paul, these lessons are a great resource for sure but I'm curious to know if you've ever thought about making your own course based on how you've learned Spanish?
This was very good. It's actually fairly simple because English speakers use sentences like this all the time. "If I had more money, I would buy a new car." Wishful thinking.
Lewis Black, anyone? "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college." Si no fuera por mi caballo, no habría pasado ese año en la universidad.
This, like many others of your mini lessons, was terrific! The exercises are extremely helpful. I can actually feel my brain turning over in its attempts to translate. In this lesson, it was pretty slow going for me as I doubt I could generate these seemingly complicated sentences without having to think them through first. So the more often I repeat them to myself, the more they embed myself in my language-addled brain. Have you ever thought of putting together a workbook of exercises for your lessons? Just a thought.
You’ve delivered yet another fantastic lesson. Thank you! LOL about “coger.” I was in a leadership training class in Mexico that was taught in Spanish. I thought the instructor kept saying “cogido” and I decided to look it up during class, recognizing it was probably the past participle of coger, a verb I wasn’t sure about. And on my phone, which was in landscape mode at the moment, the translation of the “F” word took up my entire screen which was seen by a colleague sitting next to me. She was taken aback wondering why the HR Director had the “F” word splashed across her screen. I almost fell out of my chair. We all had a good laugh when I explained it to the class during a break. Now I wonder if I misheard him using “cogido” to mean “caught”? Is the past particle of “coger” used in Mexico to mean “caught”? Hmm. 🧐
Awesome video as always. Question! On the last example (the train), why is habriamos not in subjunctive? Is there not a subject change between if *you* had arrived on time, *we* would have been able to catch the train? Or would that require a "que"?
Qroo Paul, glad you're back from your trip! I'm curious, as your "goals" for me, at your level, do you still study? Has there ever been a time (recently) that you felt like you were back at B1/B2 level during a conversation? Does it feel as natural as English (or close to it)? Although I got every answer correct, I still sometimes feel like I have SOOO much more to learn. I'd love to know what it feels like on your side of the Spanish journey bc I hope to one day be at your level. Blessings to you and Linda. ❤
This was advanced for me after 3 years. Haber is complex. I want to skip it. Deberíamos haber ido al playa. Quiero decir todo sin decir “haber”pero no funcionará muy bien. I will have to watch this one 5 times Q Paul. Thank you!!
This was an advanced lesson. I try to create content for people of all levels so I tend to skip around. I think the most difficult aspect of haber is knowing how to conjugate the accompanying past participle. He dicho, i have said, he escrito, I have written.
Paul! Thanks for that tip about not saying coger in Mexico! I'm Colombian and I usually use that word! Do you know of other countries where you shouldn't use that word? In fact, you should do a video on certain words that may be considered impolite in Mexico, but common, regular vocabulary in other Latin countries. Another example is culo which is considered vulgar in Colombia, but in Spain it is not considered impolite. (My brother, niece, and nephew live in Spain).
That is a good one. English to-day leaves out things. That is the style now. But this is what is being said: 'If I were in your place...". That is not in your place. Unless you are saying: this is my house son. When you and your sister get your own place you can make the rules. ¿Which place did you mean? Spanish speakers do note use lugar as a hyppthetical place because they do not leave out the subjuntivos of ser and estar. ¿Si or if commands the subjuntivo. Si estuvieras en mi lugar (en mi cass o outro real lugar) ese día, ¿qué habrías hecho? Tu is the subject who's mood and actions are described by both verbs. And the place is not a switch of persons but a real place.
Hi, please clear another doubt of mine in imperfect subjunctive! Why is it Queria que ella viniera a mi casa and not Queria que ella venga (subjunctive) a mi casa? Por favor ayudarme! :)
Paul, these videos are so genial! I pause between every example sentence and try to figure it out myself. And then hit play. But I keep finding that I'm wanting more. I'd like more practice. I know you're keeping the videos under 10 minutes which are awesome. But you can probably double your views on your channel if you did a supplemental video to each of these with in additional 15 to 20 sample sentences for us to translate. You know, call it a Original_supplement or something. Just suggestion that would be greatly appreciated.
Could you do a video on differences between Spain spanish and Latin american? And I mean more than the obvious - vosotros vs ustedes, pronunciation, etc. I mean things like you mentioned - how they use imperfect more. I'm sure there are lots of subtle things that would make you sound more native.
Spain uses the present perfect for things that recently occurred in the past and Latin America uses the preterite for that. That is one that I have always considered pretty significant. There are a few videos out there that go into quite a bit of detail comparing the two.
I just finished 20 weeks of lessons at a Spanish school here in Valencia Spain. Kind of using this channel as a follow thru from a recommendation by one of my fellow students. I looked at Deepl and am wondering what might make it better than google translate? PS, my wife is from Tapachula and we spend time there and in Merida and Sisal when in Mexico.
A question about the second to last example. If you could chose whatever job you want... ¨Si pudieras elegir cualquiera trabajo. Why is this not Si puedas elegir .. because it is not past tense. Gracias.
Good question, but it is actually the same in English. You are saying "if you could choose" not "if you can choose". It is used for hypothetical situations even if they could possibly occur in the present of future.
Not as well. It algún means some and is very similar to the English in usage. Which aounds better to you? If you could have any job or if you could have some job?
I have looked at the usage you like. I say use what you can until you find something better. The reason the form you like will not serve you will is because cuál sería must have a person, place or thing doing the being. ¿ Is the Tu or the usted of the first verb in the modé of being? Is the job-work doing the sería? One can use the pronoun test. You and me went to the store. Pronoun test. ¿who went to thé store with you me or did I go with you? We is you and I acting not you and me. Cualquiera is which and ever cual sería is which should be if it is to be.
Hi, I have a question related to Spanish conditional in hypothetical clauses followed by the present subjunctive : I have a doubt as to why verb takes simple future conjugation instead of subjunctive conjugation in conditional tense followed by subject change. For e.g: 1. Contrataremos al nuevo profesor mientras (que) tengamos presupuesto. 1. We will hire the new teacher as long as we have the budget. Here it is subjunctive (tengamos) instead of tenemos (simple present) because que is present. In this statement no subject change is taking place, and there is no expression of doubt/wish/hope/uncertainity also, why is verb taking subjunctive form then? In another example, 2. Aunque me regales rosas no saldré contigo a cenar. 2. Even if you buy me roses I won't go out with you for dinner. In this example why is it saldre instead of salga? My question is why are we using subjunctive (tengamos) instead of tenemos in 1st example but not using subjunctive (salga) instead of saldre in 2nd example? Can someone please help. Muchas gracias!
Mientras" can take either the indicative or the subjunctive mood in Spanish, depending on the context and meaning of the sentence. Here’s when it takes the subjunctive: Subjunctive Mood: Mientras takes the subjunctive when it refers to a future event or action that is uncertain or dependent on another action. This usage implies a condition or a situation that has not yet happened. Example 1: Mientras tú estudies, yo estaré contento. (As long as you study, I will be happy.) Example 2: Mientras ella llegue a tiempo, todo estará bien. (As long as she arrives on time, everything will be fine.) Example 3: Mientras ellos hagan su parte, nosotros podremos avanzar. (As long as they do their part, we can move forward.) Indicative Mood: Mientras takes the indicative when it refers to actions that are simultaneous and certain or habitual. Example 1: Mientras comemos, vemos la televisión. (While we eat, we watch TV.) Example 2: Mientras él trabajaba, ella leía. (While he was working, she was reading.) Example 3: Mientras ellos juegan, nosotros descansamos. (While they play, we rest.) In sentence #2, we're looking at AUNQUE triggering the subjunctive, which it does here. The verb following it is REGALAR, aunque me regales rosas, no saldré... (there isnt a subjunctive trigger word before salir). You could switch the order of the two clauses with the same result. No saldré a cenar contigo aunque me regales flores.
*_Were_*_ I not _*_to_*_ have moved to Mexico, I would not have met you._ _I would have gone to the party _*_were_*_ you _*_to_*_ have told me that Maria would be there._ *_Were_*_ I _*_to_*_ have known that it would be the last time that we would see each other, I would have hugged you harder._ *_Were_*_ you able _*_to_*_ choose any job, what would it be?_ *_Were_*_ you _*_to_*_ have arrived on time, we would have been able to have caught the first train._ I've put Paul's very useful examples into correct English too - We make lots of mistakes in foreign languages when and because we simply don't use our own one properly! The past subjunctive in English, when used correctly always, always. *ALWAYS contains "WERE" or "WERE TO" in its construction.* We mess this up because we collectively are lazy. We know what we mean when we talk amongst ourselves but this laziness we all have through using "the simple past" to convey the imperfect (by omiting the words "USED TO") as well as "WERE TO" in our own subjunctive is what makes this (conjugating foreign verbs) so very hard for ourselves.
@@QrooSpanish Hi Paul, Only through trying to learn Spanish in my late 50's have I discovered how English is _supposed_ to work (in {not all} places) for myself. I'm now 60 years old! There are 4 different types of phrase / sentence. Ones which are correct grammatically and sound good, those which sound "ugly" but are in fact actually correct gramatically (but this is why we don't say them as native English speakers), then there's also those that are both wrong gramatically as well as sounding bad (which we of course also don't say either).... No, the problems all come from those that sound okay but that actually are wrong. _If I won the lottery, I'd buy a new car._ You and I as English speakers know what that sentence means *but this ABSOLUTELY is grammatically INCORRECT!* But it doesn't sound "bad." I couldn't get my head around the countless examples in various _How to learn Spanish (specifically the subjunctive)_ text books until the penny dropped and I began asking myself the question: "Can I put 'were to' in here and replace the past tense of the verb?" and still keep the same meaning. I invite you to check any of the books belonging to you from your own bookshelves and then look at the English examples they give which have translations using the simple past (If I won the lottery...) rather than the proper modal use of "were to" - No wonder this was (for me) and still is (for countless others) so very confusing.... Think of just how much easier this would be _were_ I _to_ have (not "if I had") written _If I were to win the lottery....._ You are a GREAT teacher Paul - because although you've said "That's why I don't teach English", you're managing to teach how to do this in Spanish without this so very often wrong "were to" problem in your mind's focus. So I'll repeat if for you: You really ARE a *great* teacher, Paul - and I just hope that my observations about what we actually really mean in English will help others save a great deal of time and confusion. Keep up the good work!
Have you noticed that native speakers will sometimes use the imperfect subjunctive in place of the conditional in this sentence structure, esp when using haber? My Honduran tutor implied this is common. Por ejemplo asi es la letra de una canción de Morat (grupo musical de colombiano)- “de haber sabido que ese abrazo se iba a terminar yo te hubiera abrazado más fuerte De haber sabido que tus besos se iban a acabar yo te hubiera robado la siguiente” Es un poco confundido pq todos los libros enseñan como tú, pero parece que tambien se puede usar el imperfect subjunctivo en vez del condicional y aún se entiende?
Yes, you'll see that quite a bit when in the past tense. You will often have an option of the conditional or imperfect subjunctive to express the same idea. You have a good eye for the language! Mastering any language is all about recognizing patterns and being able to repeat those patterns.
Some one wrote that wouda cuda shouda is not to his taste. Power does give one a lack of taste. I note a clip in which a citizen of a falling power speaks in el subjuntivo to a Citizen of a rising power who uses el subjuntivo out of fear not out of gest, art, and politeness as did the former. If one is to use Spanish and live one must use el subjuntivo. If one is to use Spanish and die in the hands of Los Narcos one will have to understand el subjuntivo. Because when cutting even a pig's guts out even the most depraved, twisted, and evil soul on the lowest rung in Dante's Inferno will use el subjuntivo as he cuts to block out the screams. Spanish is not only a string of sounds it is also a different point of view even if the results are the same. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QuK3zSxG4cs.html
Do you have a video on how to conjugate into the imperfect subjunctive? I just started getting familiar with using the subjunctive, but I don't really know its imperfect form.
What about this construction I always seem to need: "I would be happy if you took out the trash/sang 'Yesterday'/knew more about history." In all these cases, the second clause talks about the future, not the past, but I've heard that the imperfect subjunctive is still required there. Comments? thanks.
It works the same way. Even in English, you are using the same tenses: I would be happy (conditional), if you took, knew (past subjunctive). You can use this expression for things you would like to happen. I nice way to influence someone or guilt them into doing something....lol. Think of it with "to wish" (ojalá). I wish you would get a job. That is expressing something that you would like to see in the future but we express it with the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish - Ojalá consiguieras un trabajo.
HI Paul I am trying to use patterns to make sentences. I want to say What a .....day, I use windy, nice, hot ,cold etc. Google retunes different patterns. For example, I get de lluvia, tan frío, even qué lindo. How can I find the correct pattern to simply say it a hot, cold, rainy tec. day?
The problem is that there isn't a set pattern for that one. The response can differ a bit depending what you want to say. It would make a good topic for a video though.
Gracias por sus videos tan utiles QRP. En este caso se puede usar “que día tan…(frío, viento, etc)”? También Tú tienes este video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ywp3xpvT144.html.
You will do best with a hard copy book. Here is why:. When you first sée, hear, taste, smell...sense a word you need to write it down or cross it out in color as soon as you can. Paul covered the substantive lo suficiente about 5 vídeos back. I knew I had heard it. I look in Butt's book A New Referênce Grammar of Spanish and there it was crossed out in color. The original encounter with the word came flashing back. Get Butt's book. Paul lists It. Along with it get a cheap pocket dictionnaire. Carry the dictionnaire with you every day. Cross out words as you encounter thèm. Your goal is to mark out every word thén toss it in the trash. Then buy a hard back from the Real Academia de Español. You will mark words in that one also but because there will be no English in it you will keep it for life and pass it on to your family with your notes. You will have to buy many dictionnaires and tense books. ¿Why? People will steal thèm. That is what you want them to do of course. Try to give paper back Spanish-English paper back as gifts to the Spanish speakers who help You. Some one stole my verb book a few months back. Thank God. Here is the brand they took:. Barron's 501 Spanish Verbs. Do not skip the introduction. Yes you can use a web site like WordReference.Com as Paul says. But you need a book where you can write you feelings upon first encounter with a verb. And also you can point to a verb and have someone look at the verb's page with you. Handing over a cell phone to some Spanish speaker one does not know well means one is handing over one's bank book to a stranger. That is why I tell people not to use Google Translate in audio mode in public. (One can buy a throw away phone for that. Been there done that. They are all Lost, ran over, and stolen.). Check with Paul to see if he has a linked discount verb book.
Have and Haber are helper verbs. ¿Why do they exist? That is the real root of your question. I think of it like this when speaking face to face I may have to use to have or haber to pause...gesture and see the other persons' none verbal réaction. The Subjuntivo is a mood it is not just a diffrent string of words. 99 perecent of the subjuntivo is none verbal. "If I were to have owed you anything I would not have given you a damn thing." “If I were to owe you something it would be my pleassure to pay with the sweetest kiss my dear.". Same meaning but a different situations en personne et perspectives. In general the subjuntivo and condtional are poetic emocional speech that is 1 percent spoken and heard and 99 perecent guesture and felt. .
What you cover here is where the land shakes in English. Ask an English speaker this:. If I was Benito Juárez I would not have sold any part of Mexico to the United States. Then ask a Spanish speaker to translate that sentence to Spanish. Why would you want to ask? When you ask you will know why. Then you will want to buy Paul café.
Wow! This video shows me how deficient I am in being able to translate (in Spanish) multiple subjuntivo y potencional simple clauses in a sentence. I eat. Como. I speak. Hablo. Es Pan cosinado. Not so with all of your offerings. You must be punishing me for all my grilling you about the grammatical reasoning behind “como si” y subjuntivo.
