In this lesson, you will learn to express what you wish you had in Spanish. I will teach you how to express something you would do or you wish you had done, but you lack something in order to perform it. In a way, something prevents you from doing it. Remember to watch the first lesson of this series: Making conditional sentences with "si": • Make conditional sente... . "Por ejemplo, think of the sentence "If I had a car, I would come to see you", "Si tuviera carro, iría a verte." To say this in Spanish you would need the pretérito perfecto subjuntivo of the verb "tener", (tuviera, tuvieras, tuviera, tuviéramos, tuvieran) after the word "si" (without an accent), the thing you wish you had, plus a second sentence using the conditional. It sounds more complicated than what it is so let me explain it in a more humane way. The sentence "If I had..." would be in Spanish "si tuviera...". "Si tuviera carro... iría a verte". What would you do if you had a car? "Iría a verte" (I would come to see you). What is your excuse for not coming to see me? "No tengo carro", "If I had car", Si tuviera carro, I would do it, lo haría. The first sentence uses the subjunctive mode and the second something that we call conditional, that consists of adding the ending "ía" to the non-conjugated verb, with some exceptions for the irregular verbs. Por ejemplo, to go, ir, iría, to eat, comer, comería, to talk, hablar, hablaría, and so on. In this lesson you will learn the structure to express your desires, to express what you want, and to make excuses since this structure helps you express something that you need in order to perform an action. This lesson is also important because it uses the subjunctive mode, a super important mode in Spanish, often used and often neglected and misunderstood. Watch this lesson, and learn to correctly express your thoughts, or... keep making excuses and keep saying "If I spoke Spanish, I would talk to my neighbour, Si hablara español, platicaría con mi vecino o vecina."
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This is a lesson you may want to watch too because it adds important information about the Spanish structures using the word "si":
• Make conditional sente...