Love-Spanish.com: Tell Me, Who Was Likely To Have Called Him?

Introduction

This post is about verb conjugation and in particular the pluperfect tense, subjunctive mood of regular verbs ending in -ar.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague about a third person (male). It appears that someone had phoned him. You are speculating about who that person might have been. At some point, the other person says: "tell me, who was likely to have called him?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿quién era probable que lo hubiera llamado?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿quién era probable que lo hubiera llamado?

OUR TIP

Consider using a subjunctive mood if you want to indicate that your answer is speculative/ not fact. Make sure that you conjugate your verbs correctly. Remember that in some cases you will have to choose between a more formal or a less formal option -see examples below.

Typical answers could be:

Era probable que lo hubiera llamado* yo, ¿no? (it was likely that I had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubieras llamado* tú, ¿no? (it was likely that you -familiar had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubiera llamado* usted, ¿no? (it was likely that you -formal had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubiera llamado* Pedro, ¿no? (it was likely that Pedro had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubiera llamado* María, ¿no? (it was likely that María had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubiéramos llamado* nosotros, ¿no? (it was likely that we had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubierais llamado* vosotros, ¿no? (it was likely that you -familiar/ plural had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubieran llamado* ustedes, ¿no? (it was likely that you -formal/ plural had called him, wasn't it?);
Era probable que lo hubieran llamado* sus padres, ¿no? (it was likely that his parents had called him, wasn't it?);

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿quién era probable que lo hubiera llamado?

*Please see grammar topic below, Verbs

Verbs

A verb is a 'doing' word which conveys:

What action takes place in a sentence
Who does that action
When that action occurs.

In addition, the verb may also convey the mood or feelings of the speaker toward the action which takes place. The verb may, for example, indicate whether the speaker is stating a fact, expressing a wish or indeed giving an order.

Verb Conjugation

Please see notes on conjugation* at the end of this post.

Subjunctive Mood-Pluperfect Tense

1. Regular Verbs Ending in -ar

Subject		TRABAJAR (TO WORK)
I	Yo	HUBIERA o HUBIESE TRABAJADO
You	Tú	HUBIERAS o HUBIESES TRABAJADO
You	Usted^*	HUBIERA o HUBIESE TRABAJADO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HUBIÉRAMOS o HUBIÉSEMOS TRABAJADO
You	Vosotros**	HUBIERAIS o HUBIESEIS TRABAJADO
You	Ustedes***	HUBIERAN o HUBIESEN TRABAJADO
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

2. Regular Verbs Ending in -er

Subject		COMER (TO EAT)
I	Yo	HUBIERA o HUBIESE COMIDO
You	Tú	HUBIERAS o HUBIESES COMIDO
You	Usted^*	HUBIERA o HUBIESE COMIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HUBIÉRAMOS o HUBIÉSEMOS COMIDO
You	Vosotros**	HUBIERAIS o HUBIESEIS COMIDO
You	Ustedes***	HUBIERAN o HUBIESEN COMIDO
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

3. Regular Verbs Ending in -ir

Subject		VIVIR (TO LIVE)
I	Yo	HUBIERA o HUBIESE VIVIDO
You	Tú	HUBIERAS o HUBIESES VIVIDO
You	Usted^*	HUBIERA o HUBIESE VIVIDO
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	HUBIÉRAMOS o HUBIÉSEMOS VIVIDO
You	Vosotros**	HUBIERAIS o HUBIESEIS VIVIDO
You	Ustedes***	HUBIERAN o HUBIESEN VIVIDO
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

* Verb Conjugation Notes

It is worth remembering once more that in its basic form (infinitive), a Spanish verb is just a general 'doing' word. In that form, a verb simply indicates an action and nothing else. If we want a verb to be more specific about the action in a sentence, we need to conjugate it. It is only when conjugated that the verb indicates:

Who does the action
When the action takes place
The mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action

The conjugation tables above refer to using conjugation to establish who does the action. What follows below are some notes on establishing when the action takes place and the mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action.

Subjunctive Mood

The use of subjunctive mood is disappearing English. Nowadays is often viewed as an old and unfashionable form of the language.

In contrast, the use of subjunctive mood is very much alive and in everyday use in Spanish. This widespread use of subjunctive mood tends to be the bane of many a learner of Spanish from the English speaking world.

The concept of subjunctive mood is perhaps best illustrated by contrasting its use against the use of indicative mood with examples in English. The following are a couple of examples which should serve that purpose:

Indicative mood (“Peter eats an apple”).- Indicative mood is commonly used to make statements of facts or positive beliefs such as this one. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes above), the speaker makes a clear and unambiguous statement of a fact (Peter eats an apple).
Subjunctive mood (“Peter would eat an apple if he were hungry”).- In contrast with indicative mood, subjunctive mood is commonly used to make statements indicating hypothetical or non-fact actions. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes), in this case the speaker sees the action of eating an apple as something hypothetical, something which may or may not happen (Peter would eat an apple... if he were hungry).

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses relate to setting the time period (when) during which the action of the verb takes place. Basic times (periods) for Spanish verb actions are:

The past (before now)
The present (now)
The future (after now)

Each Spanish verb tense corresponds to one of those basic time periods. In other words choosing a verb tense places the action of the verb in one of those basic periods and determines when the action takes place.

Now you should practise the use of the pluperfect-subjunctive mood of regular verbs with some examples of your own.

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Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Tell Me, Who Was Likely To Have Called Him?

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