📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 10 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 2 · El subjuntivo, dominado
El pretérito perfecto y el imperfecto de subjuntivo
Module 11 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 10 of 30: When the subjunctive clause happened FIRST, it goes compound: haya + participle. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
When the subjunctive clause happened FIRST, it goes compound: haya + participle. Me alegro de que hayas venido. Dudo que hayan llegado. And when the main verb is in the past, the subjunctive steps back: quería que escribieras, era posible que trajera el libro.
Y también · And also
The imperfecto de subjuntivo is built on the ellos-form of the pretérito: escribieron gives escribiera, trajeron gives trajera. Its -se twin (escribiese) means exactly the same and is more common in Spain; read both, write one.
Ojo · Watch out
The imperfecto de subjuntivo takes its stem from the ellos PRETÉRITO: trajeron gives trajera, never traería. The nosotros form carries an accent: escribiéramos, trajéramos.
escribir, pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo — the table
yo haya escrito · tú hayas escrito · él/ella/usted haya escrito · nosotros hayamos escrito · ustedes hayan escrito · ellos/ellas hayan escrito
llegar, pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo — the table
yo haya llegado · tú hayas llegado · él/ella/usted haya llegado · nosotros hayamos llegado · ustedes hayan llegado · ellos/ellas hayan llegado
escribir, imperfecto de subjuntivo — the table
yo escribiera · tú escribieras · él/ella/usted escribiera · nosotros escribiéramos · ustedes escribieran · ellos/ellas escribieran
traer, imperfecto de subjuntivo — the table
yo trajera · tú trajeras · él/ella/usted trajera · nosotros trajéramos · ustedes trajeran · ellos/ellas trajeran
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with que hayas venido.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out escribir, pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo and llegar, pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo and escribir, imperfecto de subjuntivo and traer, imperfecto de subjuntivo in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.