Breakdown of La mujer esperaba que encontráramos el oro.
la mujer
the woman / the wife
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
encontrar
to find
esperar
to hope
el oro
the gold
Questions & Answers about La mujer esperaba que encontráramos el oro.
Why does encontráramos have an accent mark?
In the nosotros (we) form of the imperfect subjunctive, you always need to add a written accent mark to the vowel immediately before the -ramos ending. This keeps the spoken stress on the correct syllable, making it encontráramos.
Why use the imperfect subjunctive (encontráramos) here?
The first verb, esperaba (was hoping), expresses a wish or hope. Just like in the present tense, expressing a hope triggers the subjunctive for the second verb. Because the hoping happened in the past, the second verb must also shift to the past, using the imperfect subjunctive.
The English translation says 'would find'. Why don't we use the conditional encontraríamos?
English often uses 'would' to talk about a future action from a past perspective (hoping back then that we would find it later). However, Spanish grammar rules override this: because esperaba triggers the subjunctive, you must use the imperfect subjunctive (encontráramos) here, not the conditional.
How do we build the form encontráramos?
To form the imperfect subjunctive, you start with the ellos/ellas form of the simple past (preterite), which is encontraron (they found). You drop the -ron at the end, which leaves the stem encontra-. Then you add the nosotros ending -ramos (and the accent mark!), giving you encontráramos.
Learn La mujer esperaba que encontráramos el oro and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free