Breakdown of ¡Ojalá nuestra casa fuera una mansión de mármol!
ser
to be
la casa
the house / home (also "at home")
de
of
un
a, an, some
nuestro
our
ojalá
hopefully / I hope (that)
la mansión
the mansion
el mármol
the marble
Questions & Answers about ¡Ojalá nuestra casa fuera una mansión de mármol!
Why do we use fuera here instead of the present subjunctive sea?
The imperfect subjunctive (fuera) is used with ojalá to express a wish that is unlikely or impossible in the present or future. Since your house isn't actually a marble mansion, it is a hypothetical wish, similar to saying 'If only it were' in English. If you used the present subjunctive (sea), it would imply you think there is a realistic possibility that the house currently is a marble mansion.
Can I put 'que' after ojalá in this sentence?
Why is fuera (from ser) used here instead of estuviera (from estar)?
Even though we often use estar to talk about the physical location or condition of a house, here you are describing what the house fundamentally is. We always use ser to equate two nouns (a house and a mansion) and to state the material something is made of.
Why is it 'de mármol' instead of an adjective like in English (marble mansion)?
In Spanish, nouns cannot be stacked directly next to each other to act as adjectives like they do in English. To describe what something is made of, you must use the preposition de followed by the material noun. So 'marble mansion' becomes mansión de mármol (mansion of marble).
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