Breakdown of Dijo que había comido el caviar, como si hubiera pertenecido a la élite.
comer
to eat
que
that / than
como
as / like (such as, similar to)
decir
to say, to tell
haber
(auxiliary) have
si
if
pertenecer a
to belong to
el caviar
caviar
la élite
elite
Questions & Answers about Dijo que había comido el caviar, como si hubiera pertenecido a la élite.
Why do we use the past perfect subjunctive (hubiera pertenecido) here instead of the imperfect subjunctive (perteneciera)?
The phrase como si (as if) always triggers a past subjunctive form. We use the past perfect subjunctive (hubiera pertenecido) to talk about a hypothetical action that happened prior to another past action. If we used the imperfect subjunctive (perteneciera), it would mean "as if he belonged" at that very moment, rather than "as if he had belonged".
Why is había comido in the indicative, while hubiera pertenecido is in the subjunctive?
Había comido (he had eaten) is what he actually stated he did, so it is reported as a fact using the indicative mood. In contrast, hubiera pertenecido follows como si, which introduces a hypothetical, contrary-to-fact comparison. This unreality always requires the subjunctive.
Why is there an 'a' before la élite?
The verb pertenecer (to belong) requires the preposition a to connect it to the group, place, or person that someone belongs to. It works exactly like the "to" in the English phrase "to belong to".
Could I say hubiese pertenecido instead?
Yes, absolutely. Both hubiera and hubiese are perfectly valid past subjunctive forms of the helper verb haber. They mean the exact same thing, though you will hear hubiera much more frequently in everyday Latin American Spanish.
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