Breakdown of Me arrepiento de ser tan estúpida; ¡ojalá hubiera estudiado más!
ser
to be
de
of
estudiar
to study
más
more; else (anything else, nobody else)
Questions & Answers about Me arrepiento de ser tan estúpida; ¡ojalá hubiera estudiado más!
Why do we use hubiera estudiado instead of a regular past tense like había estudiado?
Hubiera estudiado is the pluperfect subjunctive. You must use the subjunctive mood after ojalá. When you are expressing a regret or an impossible wish about the past (wishing something had happened), you use ojalá followed by this specific past subjunctive form.
Why is there a de after arrepiento?
The verb is pronominal and requires a preposition: arrepentirse de (to repent of / to regret). Whenever you state what you are regretting—whether it is an action like the infinitive ser or a noun—you must link it with de.
Could I say Me arrepiento de que sea tan estúpida instead of using the infinitive ser?
It is much more natural to use the infinitive ser here. Because the person regretting and the person being stupid are the exact same (the speaker), Spanish strongly prefers keeping it simple with an infinitive. You typically only use de que + subjunctive when there is a change of subject.
Does the word estúpida change depending on who is speaking?