Question 1

How is the form estuviera created from estar?

Accepted Answer

To form the imperfect subjunctive, you always start with the "they" form of the preterite past tense. For estar, this is the irregular form estuvieron. You then drop the -ron and add the imperfect subjunctive endings (like -ra for the he/she/it form), giving us estuviera.

Question 2

Why do we use the past subjunctive (estuviera) here instead of the present subjunctive (esté)?

Accepted Answer

Ojalá means "I hope" or "I wish" and always triggers the subjunctive. If you use the present subjunctive (ojalá esté aquí), it means "I hope he is here" (it is a real possibility). By using the imperfect subjunctive (ojalá estuviera aquí), you are expressing an impossible or unlikely present wish: "I wish he were here" (but he is not).

Question 3

Could I use fuera (from ser) instead of estuviera here?

Accepted Answer

No, because the sentence is talking about a physical location (aquí, meaning "here"). In Spanish, you must always use estar to describe where something is located, even if the subject is mythical or imaginary!

Question 4

I sometimes see words ending in "-se" for this tense. Could I say estuviese?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The imperfect subjunctive actually has two valid sets of endings: -ra and -se. Estuviese is completely grammatically correct and means the exact same thing as estuviera. The -ra endings are just much more commonly used in everyday Latin American Spanish.

¡Ojalá el dragón mágico estuviera aquí!

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