Breakdown of No me rebajaría. ¡Ni que tolerara esa insolencia!
no
no, not
esa
that (feminine)
que
that / than
ni
nor / not even
tolerar
to tolerate
rebajarse
to stoop
la insolencia
insolence
Questions & Answers about No me rebajaría. ¡Ni que tolerara esa insolencia!
Why is tolerara in the imperfect subjunctive here?
The phrase ¡ni que! (meaning "as if!" or "it's not as though!") is used to angrily or sarcastically reject an idea. Because it describes a situation contrary to reality, it always requires a past subjunctive (like the imperfect subjunctive used here) to show that the scenario is purely hypothetical.
Could I say ¡ni que tolere! using the present subjunctive instead?
No, ¡ni que! is never followed by the present subjunctive. Even when rejecting a present situation, you must use the imperfect subjunctive (tolerara) to emphasize that the idea is absurd and completely rejected by the speaker.
Why is the pronoun me used with rebajaría?
The base verb rebajar generally means to lower or reduce (such as lowering a price). When used as a pronominal verb (rebajarse), it takes on the figurative meaning of lowering oneself, or stooping to a certain level. The me reflects this action back onto the speaker.
Could I use the other imperfect subjunctive ending and say tolerase?
Yes, the imperfect subjunctive has two interchangeable sets of endings: the -ra forms and the -se forms. ¡Ni que tolerase...! is grammatically correct, though the -ara ending used here is much more common in everyday Latin American Spanish.
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