📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 3 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 1 · La lengua literaria
El -ra que no es subjuntivo
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 3 of 30: The -ra form has two lives besides the subjunctive. On this page: 8 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.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
el discurso que pronunciara
the speech he had delivered (journalistic)
ehl dees-KOOR-soh keh proh-noon-SYAH-rah
quisiera pedirle un favor
I would like to ask you a favor
kee-SYEH-rah peh-DEER-leh oon fah-BOHR
debiera usted descansar
you ought to rest (courteous)
deh-BYEH-rah oos-TEHD dehs-kahn-SAR
la prosa periodística
journalistic prose
lah PROH-sah peh-ryoh-DEES-tee-kah
el uso culto
formal usage
ehl OO-soh KOOL-toh
la cortesía
the courtesy
lah kohr-teh-SEE-ah
el pluscuamperfecto
the pluperfect
ehl ploos-kwahm-pehr-FEHK-toh
anticuado
old-fashioned
ahn-tee-KWAH-doh
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
The -ra form has two lives besides the subjunctive. In the press it is a pluperfect: el discurso que pronunciara el presidente = que había pronunciado. And in courteous speech quisiera and debiera soften a request: quisiera pedirle un favor; debiera usted descansar.
Y también · And also
Both descend from the Latin pluperfect, which is why they can do it. Read the journalistic one as había + participle; use the courteous one freely — quisiera is the politest way to want something in Spanish.
Ojo · Watch out
que pronunciara el presidente in a news sentence means que había pronunciado — no wish, no doubt. And quisiera is a full sentence opener: quisiera pedirle un favor, softer than quiero and warmer than querría.
pronunciar, pluscuamperfecto — the table
yo había pronunciado · tú habías pronunciado · él/ella/usted había pronunciado · nosotros habíamos pronunciado · ustedes habían pronunciado · ellos/ellas habían pronunciado
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el discurso que pronunciara.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out pronunciar, pluscuamperfecto 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.