cantara / cantase
The -ra and -se Forms
Galician has two past forms that look alike: cantase (imperfect subjunctive) and cantara (antepretérito, had sung). Use -se after se, que or oxalá: Se o soubese, non viría.
How It Works
Two tenses, two jobs
- cantase, soubese, fixese: imperfect subjunctive, as in Pedinlle que me axudase. (I asked him to help me.)
- cantara, soubera, fixera: antepretérito (indicative), as in O tren xa saíra. (The train had already left.)
Both are built on the preterite stem: souben → soubese, soubera; tiven → tivese, tivera.
In careful Galician
In conditions and after que, use -se: Se tivese tempo, iría. In speech you will also hear Se o soubera with a subjunctive meaning. The norms accept that this happens, but they recommend -se for the subjunctive so the two tenses stay clear.
Fixed uses of -ra
- Exclamations of surprise: Quen o dixera! (Who would have thought it!) See literary -ra.
- Polite wishes and requests: Quixera un café (I would like a coffee).
- An action that should have happened but did not: Se non o fixeches, fixéralo (if you did not do it, you should have). In constructions like this one, -ra is the only possible form.
No compound past. Galician does not build these tenses with haber. Say o tren xa saíra, not o tren xa había saído.
Examples (6)
- Se o soubese, non viría.
Had I known, I would not have come.
Soubese is the imperfect subjunctive, the recommended form in the se clause.
- Cando cheguei á estación, o tren xa saíra.
When I got to the station, the train had already left.
Saíra is the antepretérito: it happened before another past event.
- Quen o dixera!
Who would have thought it!
A fixed exclamation that keeps the -ra form.
- Quixera un café, por favor.
I would like a coffee, please.
A fixed polite use of -ra.
- Pedinlle que me axudase coa mudanza.
I asked him to help me with the move.
- Oxalá chovese un pouco!
I wish it would rain a little!
Common Mistakes
Using a -se form for a past before the past.
Cando cheguei, o tren xa saíse.Cando cheguei, o tren xa saíra.The -se form is only subjunctive. A fact that happened before another past event takes the antepretérito in -ra.
Building the pluperfect with haber.
Cando cheguei, o tren xa había saído.Cando cheguei, o tren xa saíra.Galician expresses this with the simple antepretérito, not with haber + participle.
Building the form on the infinitive instead of the preterite stem.
Se o sabese, non viría.Se o soubese, non viría.The preterite of saber is souben, so the subjunctive is soubese.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The -ra and -se paradigms have distinct central roles, with additional recognized uses.
Related Patterns
- se + Imperfect SubjunctiveHypothetical Conditions
Conditions, where -se is the recommended form.
Level 4 - quen o dixera!Literary -ra with Conditional Meaning
The literary -ra with a conditional meaning.
Level 6 - Polite Requests With the Conditional
Another polite way to ask, next to Quixera.
Level 3 - Sequence of Tenses With the Subjunctive
Explains when a past main verb calls for the -se form.
Level 4
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice cantara / cantase in Bubblegum
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