Hubiese - habría - hubiera
In conditional clauses, or to express hypothetical situations, habría can be replaced by hubiera or hubiese.
1) In spoken Spanish especially, hubiera is often heard in the result clause (la apódosis), although according to the El País style guide (and most teachers) habría is preferred.1-2
Hubiese is less common in the result clause and is advised against by some:
"En estos casos de relación con subjuntivo, es preferible siempre la forma potencial en los tiempos compuestos. No se debe escribir 'si hubieras pedido que lo hiciera, yo lo hubiese hecho'. Es más correcto 'si hubieras pedido que lo hiciera, yo lo habría hecho'".3
-Me habría/hubiera/hubiese gustado verte anoche — I would have liked to see you last night
-Sabes que cualquier otra persona ya se habría/hubiera/hubiese rendido— You know that anyone else would have given up by now
-Si no hubiese/hubiera llovido, hubiéramos/habríamos salido — If it hadn't rained, we would have gone out ['Si no hubiera llovido hubiésemos salido' is less common but accepted by the RAE)
2) In subordinate clauses following the typical subjunctive triggers (e.g. desires, requests, probability, value judgments, etc.) the conditional is generally not possible.
-Ojalá te hubiera/hubiese conocido cuando era jóven — I wish I had met you when I was young
-Le molestó que le hubieran/hubiesen corregido — It annoyed him that someone had corrected him
-Me dio pena que no le hubiera/hubiese salido bien — I was sad that it hadn't worked out for him
3) With certain constructions referring to prospective events, however, both options may be possible.
As discussed previously, nunca pensé que can alternate with the conditional and subjunctive, with a slight change in meaning; so can clauses following quizá when presenting information about a future event more tentatively.
-Pensé que quizá hubiera/habría que avisarte — I thought that I might have to/maybe I should let you know
-Nunca pensé que habría tanto paro — I never thought there would be so much unemployment [It turns out there is/was]
→Nunca pensé que hubiera/hubiese tanto paro — I never thought there was/would be so much unemployment [We don't know if there is/was]
4) The conditional and the past subjunctive also alternate with the verbs querer, poder, and deber in certain contexts - read more.
-No quisiera/querría ofender a nadie — I wouldn't want to offend anyone
-¿Podría/pudiera ser que no estuviera ese día? — Could it be that he wasn't there that day?
-Deberías/debieras esforzarte más — You should make more of an effort
- See also: condicional imperfecto indicativo
En La Prensa
Si hubiera sabido antes que Juan Manuel tenía antecedentes por abusos a menores, añade, "jamás le habría dejado acercarse a la niña". El Mundo-Feb 15, 2017
Si hubiera montado este negocio, me habría hecho rico. EL PAÍS-Feb 21, 2017
Si hubiera estado presente, algunas cosas hubieran discurrido de manera diferente. Público-Feb 17, 2017
Como fan, me hubiese gustado ver a Alonso en el coche que dejé en Mercedes, Mundo Deportivo-Feb 5, 2017
In Español-Avanzado Articles
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-Hubiese habría hubiera | subjuntivo | pluscuamperfecto-
