in spanish how do you know when to use er or ar with imperfect subjun?

Question

how do you know when to use er or ar at the end of an imperfect subjunction?

Answer 1

I always apreciate when people try their best to make their question understandable. Because that helps us give better answers. As a community, I mean.

I am a native Spanish speaker and I don't know what you are asking about. What are "er" and "ar"? At the end of what? Are you talking about verb endings? Because I am not sure I get it when you mention "imperfect subjunction".
:S
Please add more details.

Answer 2

I am going to assume that what you are asking is what is the difference between the -ese and -era forms of the imperfect subjuctive. In other words, when do you say (for example) "hablase" and when do you say "hablara". The answer is that, when used as the imperfect subjunctive, both are equally correct and perfectly interchangeable, though the -era forms are more usual in Latin American Spanish.

The differences come out when the imperfect subjunctive is used for other things, such as to replace the conditional. "No sé dónde yo estuviera" and "No sé dónde yo estaría" both mean "I don´t know where I´d be". The word "estuviese" could not be used here.

Answer 3

Good answer. The question is confused and confusing. I would guess the question is really how do you know when to use an e or an a in the subjunctive verb ending.

If the verb has an er or ir ending in the infinitive it takes an a in the subjuntive form - for example 'El come' but 'No quiero que él coma' and if the infinitive ends in an -ar then the subjunctive form ends in an e - for example 'El habla' but 'No quiero que él hable'.

Answer 4

Hi, I'm writting from México, maybe I understand you. In time Present Afirmativ Subjuntive only we use er or ar in verbs when in English you use with "to" for example to play (jugar) to write (escribir), Examples:
I want to be with you
Yo quiero estAR contigo
She loves to travel with us
Ella ama viajAR con nosotros
We love to live with them
Amamos vivIR con ellos
the time is present afirmative subjun.

Answer 5

A question about the subjunctive in Spanish. It is hard to explain. About.com can explain the subjunctive more than I could.

http://spanish.about.com/od/verbmoods/a/intro_subjunct.htm
http://spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa100499.htm