estuvese

Estuvese is a verb form of the Spanish verb estar, used in the imperfect subjunctive mood. It is one of the variants that can appear in this mood, formed from the preterite stem estuv- with the subjunctive endings. In contemporary standard Spanish, the most common spellings of this form are esta variant estuviese and estuviera; estuVese is encountered mainly in older texts or regional usage and is generally considered archaic or less common in modern writing.

As with other imperfect subjunctive forms, estuVese serves to express non-real, hypothetical, or uncertain past-oriented ideas. It often occurs in dependent clauses after verbs or expressions of doubt, emotion, desire, necessity, or possibility, and in conditional clauses introduced by si when the main clause is in the past or conditional: Si él estuviese aquí, podríamos empezar. Similarly, estuviése or estuviera can be used interchangeably in many contexts, with regional or stylistic preferences influencing choice.

Usage notes:

- Estuviese and estuviera are the standard modern alternatives; estubiese or estuve form variants are far less common.

- The choice between -iese and -iera endings (estuviese vs. estuviera) reflects regional and stylistic preferences more than meaning.

- The form estuvese appears mainly in older literature or regional varieties and is rarely used in formal contemporary writing.

See also: Spanish grammar, imperfect subjunctive, verb estar, conditional clauses.