Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ojalá pudiera deshacer el error y borrar la mancha. - If only I could undo the mistake and erase the stain.

When you use ojalá with the imperfect subjunctive (like pudiera), it expresses a wish that is impossible or very unlikely to happen in the present or future. It translates to 'If only I could...' rather than 'I hope I can...'. If you used the present subjunctive (ojalá pueda), it would mean a realistic hope: 'I hope I can (and it is possible).'

Why are deshacer and borrar in the infinitive? Shouldn't they be in the subjunctive too?

In Spanish, when verbs follow a conjugated verb and share the same subject, they stay in the infinitive. Here, pudiera is already conjugated to show the subjunctive mood and who is doing the action. The verbs deshacer (to undo) and borrar (to erase) simply complete the meaning, so they stay in their dictionary forms.

Is deshacer just the verb hacer with a prefix?

Exactly! The prefix des- in Spanish often works like the English prefix 'un-' to reverse an action. Since hacer means 'to do' or 'to make', adding the prefix gives us deshacer, meaning 'to undo'.

Can I use ojalá que instead of just ojalá in this sentence?