Breakdown of Aunque estamos cansados, el director exigió que repitiéramos la escena.
estar
to be (location/state)
cansado
tired
repetir
to repeat
que
that / than
el director
the director
aunque
although / even though
exigir
to demand
la escena
the scene
Questions & Answers about Aunque estamos cansados, el director exigió que repitiéramos la escena.
Why is repitiéramos in the imperfect subjunctive here?
This sentence uses reported speech for a command in the past. The director didn't just state a fact; he made a demand (exigió). Because the reporting verb (exigió) is in the past tense, the command that follows must be in the past (imperfect) subjunctive (repitiéramos).
How do we form repitiéramos from repetir?
To form the imperfect subjunctive, you take the third-person plural (ellos/ellas) form of the preterite, drop the -ron, and add the imperfect subjunctive endings. For repetir, the preterite form is repitieron (notice the stem change from e to i). Drop the -ron to get repitie-, then add the nosotros ending -ramos to get repitiéramos.
Why is there an accent mark on repitiéramos?
In the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros form always gets an accent mark on the vowel immediately before the -ramos or -semos ending. This keeps the spoken stress on the correct syllable.
Why does Aunque use the indicative estamos instead of the subjunctive estemos?
When aunque is followed by the indicative, it means "even though" and states a known, confirmed fact (we are actually tired right now). If we used the subjunctive (Aunque estemos cansados), it would mean "even if we are tired," treating the tiredness as a hypothetical or unconfirmed situation.
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