| Form | preterite of ellos without -ron + ra / se | Quería que hablara. = Quería que hablase. | I wanted him to speak. |
| Irregular verbs | the irregular stem of the preterite stays: vinieron → viniera | Esperaba que vinieras pronto. | I hoped you would come soon. |
| Unreal wish | ojalá expresses an unlikely or impossible wish | Ojalá tuviera más tiempo. | I wish I had more time. |
| Remote possibility | quizá / tal vez present the possibility as unlikely | Tal vez fuera ella. | Maybe it was her. |
| Politeness | softens a wish or a request | Quisiera pedirle un favor. | I would like to ask you a favour. |
| Main verb in the past | a past wish, influence, feeling or doubt calls for the imperfect subjunctive | Me pidió que llamara antes. | He asked me to call beforehand. |
| Condition | si takes the imperfect subjunctive and the result takes the conditional | Si tuviera tiempo, iría. | If I had time, I would go. |
| C1Unreal comparison | como si / igual que si compare with something unreal | Habla como si lo supiera todo. | He talks as if he knew everything. |
| C1Other subordinate clauses | relative, time, purpose and concessive clauses that refer to the past | Esperó hasta que llegaras. | He waited until you arrived. |
| C2Ironic refusal | qué más quisiera refuses what looks like a wish | ¡Qué más quisiera yo! | I wish! |
| Trap | a lo mejor takes the indicative | A lo mejor voy mañana. | Maybe I'll go tomorrow. |
| Trap | the nosotros form takes a written accent | Si tuviéramos tiempo, iríamos. | If we had time, we would go. |