B2 · Conditional sentences
Wishes with ojalá and como si
Spanish has no verb for «to wish» — it has a word that opens one.
At a glance
- Remember
- ojalá is not a verb — no subject, no que, just the subjunctive.
- Form
- Ojalá llegue a tiempo.possible
- Signal words
- ojalá
- como si
- ni que
- quién
- así
- Trap
- Wrong:Yo ojalá que venga mañana.Right:Ojalá venga mañana.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Spanish. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending auxiliary verb negation
| possible | Ojalá llegue a tiempo. |
| unlikely | Ojalá tuviera más tiempo. |
| too late | Ojalá lo hubiera sabido. |
| as if | Actúa como si nada hubiera pasado. |
| as if, present | Habla como si fuera experto. |
| ironic | ¡Ni que fuera millonario! |
| that I have | (yo) tenga |
| that you have (tú) | (tú) tengas |
| that he, she has / that you have (usted) | (él, ella, usted) tenga |
| that we have | (nosotros) tengamos |
| that you have (vosotros) | (vosotros) tengáis |
| that they have / that you have (ustedes) | (ellos, ellas, ustedes) tengan |
| if I had | (yo) tuviera |
| if you had (tú) | (tú) tuvieras |
| if he, she had / if you had (usted) | (él, ella, usted) tuviera |
| if we had | (nosotros) tuviéramos |
| if you had (vosotros) | (vosotros) tuvierais |
| if they had / if you had (ustedes) | (ellos, ellas, ustedes) tuvieran |
| if I had had | (yo) hubiera tenido |
| if you had had (tú) | (tú) hubieras tenido |
| if he, she had had / if you had had (usted) | (él, ella, usted) hubiera tenido |
| if we had had | (nosotros) hubiéramos tenido |
| if you had had (vosotros) | (vosotros) hubierais tenido |
| if they had had / if you had had (ustedes) | (ellos, ellas, ustedes) hubieran tenido |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
ojalá always takes the subjunctive and needs no main clause.
Ojalá haga buen tiempo.I hope the weather is good.
The imperfect subjunctive makes the wish an unlikely one.
Ojalá pudiera ayudarte.I wish I could help you.
como si never takes the present.
Me mira como si no me conociera.He looks at me as if he did not know me.
que on its own also takes the subjunctive when a wish is meant.
Que te vaya bien.All the best.
Example sentences
Ojalá no llueva mañana.I hope it does not rain tomorrow.
Ojalá estuvieras aquí.I wish you were here.
Se comporta como si fuera el dueño.He behaves as if he owned the place.
Ojalá hubiéramos salido antes.I wish we had set off earlier.
6 more example sentences
Ojalá vuelvas pronto.I hope you come back soon.
Me trata como si fuera un niño.He treats me as if I were a child.
Ojalá hubiera estudiado más.I wish I had studied more.
Actúa como si nada.He carries on as if nothing had happened.
¡Ni que fuera tan difícil!As if it were that hard!
Ojalá todo salga bien.I hope everything goes well.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
«I wish» wants a subject and a verb, so out comes Yo ojalá que venga. Ojalá carries all of it by itself: no yo, no que, and the verb straight after — Ojalá venga. The one thing to get right is the tense, which does the work «wish that» and «wish would» do in English.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
English wishes with a verb and a subject: «I wish», «he wishes». Spanish does it with ojalá, which is not a verb at all — it comes from the Arabic for «God willing», takes no subject, and needs no main clause. The tense that follows says how realistic the wish is: Ojalá vengais «I hope he comes»Ojalá vinierais «I wish he would come»Ojalá hubiera venidois «I wish he had come»
That three-way split is the same one English makes after «I wish», so the thinking transfers even though the word does not. What has to be dropped is the subject: Yo ojalá is not a sentence, and neither is a que after it.
Como si means «as if» and always takes the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive, never the present: Habla como si lo supiera todo. English uses a past there too — «as if he knew everything» — so this one transfers whole. The same holds for ni que, the ironic «as if»: ¡Ni que fueras el jefe!
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