Breakdown of El productor exigió que la iluminación fuera perfecta.
ser
to be
que
that / than
perfecto
perfect
exigir
to demand
el productor
the producer
la iluminación
the lighting
Questions & Answers about El productor exigió que la iluminación fuera perfecta.
Why is fuera in the imperfect subjunctive instead of the present subjunctive (sea)?
Because the reporting verb exigió (demanded) is in a past tense. When you report a past command, request, or demand, the verb that follows que must "step back" into the past (imperfect) subjunctive to match the timeline. If the producer were demanding it right now (exige), you would use the present subjunctive sea.
Fuera is the imperfect subjunctive for both ser (to be) and ir (to go). How do I know which one it is here?
Why use the preterite exigió instead of the imperfect exigía?
Exigió is in the preterite because the producer made a specific, completed demand for this particular event. If you wanted to say the producer used to demand perfect lighting as an ongoing habit for all of his projects, you would use the imperfect: El productor exigía que la iluminación fuera perfecta.
Why does the English translation say "be perfect" instead of "was perfect"?
English actually has a subjunctive mood too! For formal demands or requests, English drops the conjugation and just uses the base verb (like "demanded that it be perfect"). Spanish works similarly: verbs of influence or demand like exigir always trigger the subjunctive in the second half of the sentence, which is why we use fuera instead of the regular past tense era.
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