The main clause drives the subjunctive
The concordancia de tiempos (sequence of tenses) decides which subjunctive tense goes into the que-clause. What settles it is the tense of the verb in the main clause, not the que-clause itself.
English hides this: I want you to come and I wanted you to come both use the same infinitive, which has no tense. Spanish needs que plus a conjugated verb, and that verb has to pick a tense.
The same wish in both zones
Quiero que vengas.
I want you to come.
Quería que vinieras.
I wanted you to come.
The four cases at a glance
| Tense of the main verb | Que-clause at the same time or later | Que-clause earlier |
|---|---|---|
| Presente, Futuro, Imperativo, Pretérito Perfecto | Presente de Subjuntivo | Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo |
| Indefinido, Imperfecto, Condicional, Pluscuamperfecto | Imperfecto de Subjuntivo | Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo |
Within a zone, the only question is whether the que-clause is at the same time or later (left) or earlier (right).
Main verb in the present
For something at the same time or later, use the Presente de Subjuntivo; for something earlier, the Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo. It is built from haya plus the participle. When the earlier event is clearly in the past (ayer, el año pasado), you will also hear the Imperfecto de Subjuntivo after a present-zone verb.
Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo
Hear the present zone
Quiero que vengas mañana.
I want you to come tomorrow.
later
Espero que estés bien.
I hope you are well.
same time
Me alegra que hayas aprobado.
I'm glad you passed.
earlier
Main verb in the past
Everything steps back one tense: for something at the same time or later, use the Imperfecto de Subjuntivo; for something earlier, the Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo (hubiera + participle). A main verb in the Condicional belongs to this zone too.
Hear the past zone
Quería que me ayudaras.
I wanted you to help me.
same time
Esperaba que llegaras a tiempo.
I hoped you would arrive on time.
later
No creí que hubiera terminado.
I didn't think he had finished yet.
earlier
