Tell Me When You Would Prefer... (2)

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague.  Perhaps you are talking about that relative, friend or colleague coming along with someone else and jointly pay you a visit. You might have said something which gave the impression that perhaps there are some times when their arrival might be inappropriate. The other person wants you to tell him/ her "when you would prefer them to arrive".

He/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:

Dime cuando preferirías que llegásemos

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to more formal and say to you:

Dígame (usted) cuando preferiría que llegásemos

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OUR TIP

You DO NOT need be concerned about the degree of formality in what your relative/ friend/ colleague says to you. Whether the other person uses a more/ less formal register is irrelevant to your choice of reply. 

Situations like this one invite answers which should include a 'conditional' tense. There is a 'conditional' verb in the request, which should be reflected in the reply. Basically, your answer depends on whether you want to say that you would prefer them to:

• Visit jointly at a specific time.
• Visit jointly after a specific period of time.
• Visit jointly on/ before/ after a given date.

Here some examples which deal with those basic possibilities:

• Preferiría que llegaseis a la una y media (I would prefer you to arrive at 1:30)*
• Preferiría que llegaseis dentro de media hora (I would prefer you to arrive in half an hour)*
• Preferiría que llegaseis antes del lunes (I would prefer you to arrive before Monday)*

Now you should practice answering the question:

Dime cuando preferirías que llegásemos

*Please see grammar below

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Grammar-Subjunctive

Please note this form of expressing a preference is a typical example of the use of the imperfect subjunctive. You should use the imperfect subjunctive in expressions such as:

• "I would prefer <you to do something>".
• "I would prefer <him/ her to do  something>".
• "I would prefer <us to do something>".
• "I would prefer <you-plural to do something>"
• "I would prefer <them to do something>".

In order to express this in Spanish, you could use:

• "preferiría que <subjuntivo>... "

Some examples of imperfect subjunctive are:

• Preferiría que me llamases mañana (I would prefer you to call me tomorrow).
• Preferiría que me llamaras mañana (I would prefer you to call me tomorrow).
• Preferiría que fuésemos a bailar (I would prefer us to go dancing).
• Preferiría que fuéramos a bailar (I would prefer us to go dancing).
• Preferiría que me llamaseis el lunes (I would prefer you-plural to call me on Monday).
• Preferiría que me llamarais el lunes (I would prefer you-plural to call me on Monday).
• Preferiría que Pedro y María viniesen a verme (I would prefer Pedro and María to come and see me).
• Preferiría que Pedro y María vinieran a verme (I would prefer Pedro and María to come and see me).

Now you should practise imperfect subjunctive and conditional expressions of this type of your own.

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