Ojalá la secretaría abriera antes los viernes, porque siempre hay mucha cola por la mañana.

Ojalá is used to express a wish, similar to I hope or if only.

After ojalá, Spanish normally uses the subjunctive, because the speaker is talking about something wished for, not simply stating a fact. That is why you get abriera, not an ordinary indicative form.

So:

• Ojalá... = expressing a wish
• abriera = subjunctive form of abrir

In this sentence, the speaker is complaining about the current situation and wishing it were different.

Each option gives a different nuance:

• abre = indicative, plain statement, so it does not fit after ojalá
• abra = present subjunctive, often used for a hope about the future that still feels possible
• abriera = imperfect subjunctive, often used for a more hypothetical, less likely, or regretful wish

So:

• Ojalá abra antes = I hope it opens earlier
• Ojalá abriera antes = I wish it opened earlier / If only it opened earlier

Here, abriera sounds like the speaker is lamenting a regular situation rather than making an optimistic hope.

Yes. Abriera and abriese are both correct forms of the imperfect subjunctive.

So you could say:

• Ojalá la secretaría abriera antes...
• Ojalá la secretaría abriese antes...

Both mean the same thing. In everyday speech, -ra forms such as abriera are more common than -se forms such as abriese.

Here, la secretaría means something like the administrative office, the office, or the registry/office desk, depending on context.

It does not mean the secretary as a person.

This is a useful distinction:

• la secretaría = the office/department
• la secretaria = the female secretary

The accent mark matters, and the stress changes too:

• secretaría
• secretaria

In Spanish, the definite article is often used with days of the week.

• el viernes = on Friday / this Friday
• los viernes = on Fridays / every Friday

So los viernes here refers to a habitual situation: every Friday, the same problem happens.

Yes. Antes by itself can mean earlier or sooner.

So:

• abrir antes = to open earlier

You do not need an extra word like more. Spanish simply uses antes.

If you want to make the comparison explicit, you can add more information:

• abrir antes que ahora
• abrir antes que otros días

But in this sentence, antes alone is perfectly natural.

Because antes modifies the verb abriera, while los viernes tells you when this happens.

So the structure is basically:

• abriera antes = opened earlier
• los viernes = on Fridays

Putting them together as abriera antes los viernes is a natural word order in Spanish.

The sentence is focusing first on the wish (open earlier) and then on the day when this matters (on Fridays).

In Spain, cola very commonly means queue or line.

So hay mucha cola means:

• there is a long queue
• there’s always a big line
• there are always a lot of people waiting

Literally, it looks like there is a lot of queue, but natural English would usually be there’s a long line.

Because hay is used to say that something exists:

• hay = there is / there are

Estar is used for location or state:

• está = is located / is

Here the meaning is there is always a queue, so Spanish uses hay.

Compare:

• Hay mucha cola = There’s a long line
• La cola está fuera = The line is outside

Because cola is being treated as a collective idea: a queue / a line.

So mucha cola does not mean several separate queues. It means one big line or a lot of queueing.

That is why singular is natural here:

• hay mucha cola = there’s a long line

If you wanted to talk about several lines, you could say:

• hay muchas colas

But that would mean there are many queues/lines, which is not the intended idea here.

In Spain, por la mañana is the usual way to say in the morning.

The same pattern is used with other parts of the day:

• por la mañana = in the morning
• por la tarde = in the afternoon
• por la noche = at night / in the evening

En la mañana exists, but in Spain it is less common and can sound less natural in ordinary speech.

Because abrir can be used directly with places, shops, offices, etc.

For example:

• La tienda abre a las nueve
• La biblioteca abre los sábados
• La secretaría abriera antes...

So la secretaría is the subject, and abriera is its verb.

Using se abre would create a different structure, more like an impersonal or passive-style expression. Here the simple non-reflexive form is the most natural one.

Porque introduces the reason.

So the structure is:

• Ojalá la secretaría abriera antes los viernes = the wish
• porque siempre hay mucha cola por la mañana = the reason for that wish

In other words, the speaker wants the office to open earlier because there is always a long queue in the morning.