Breakdown of ¡Quién fuera así de despreocupado ahora mismo!
ser
to be
de
from / of
ahora
now
así
like this / like that
mismo
same / right (emphatic, e.g. ahora mismo)
quién
if only (in wishes)
despreocupado
carefree
Questions & Answers about ¡Quién fuera así de despreocupado ahora mismo!
Why does quién mean "If only I" here instead of "who"?
In Spanish, starting an exclamation with ¡quién! followed by the imperfect subjunctive is a set phrase used to express a strong, often unfulfillable wish about yourself. Even though quién literally means "who", in this specific structure it translates to "If only I..." or "I wish I...". It is almost like saying "Who gets to be that lucky? I wish it were me."
If a woman is saying this sentence, does she need to change any words?
Could I use the present subjunctive here instead of the imperfect subjunctive, since the sentence says ahora mismo (right now)?
No, this specific ¡quién! structure always requires a past-tense subjunctive. Even though the wish is about the present moment (ahora mismo), Spanish uses the imperfect subjunctive (fuera) to show that the wish is hypothetical or impossible right now. This is exactly like how English uses the past tense "were" in the phrase "If only I were...".
What does así de mean in this context? Why not just use tan?
Both can mean "so" or "that", but así de implies a direct comparison to something you are currently observing or pointing out. By saying así de despreocupado, the speaker is essentially saying "as carefree as that specific person or situation I am looking at." If you just wanted to say "so carefree" in a general sense, you would use tan.
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