respondieran

Respondieran is a form of the Spanish verb responder in the imperfect subjunctive, used with the third-person plural subject (ellos, ellas, o ustedes). It is part of the subjunctive mood and appears in dependent clauses to express doubt, wish, possibility, or hypothetical or counterfactual situations in the past or in conditional statements. It corresponds to the -ra endings of the imperfect subjunctive; the alternative -se forms (respondiese, respondieses, respondiese, respondiésemos, respondieseis, respondiesen) are also correct.

Formation and variants: The imperfect subjunctive is formed from the third-person plural preterite respondieron by removing -ron and adding the endings -ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran (or the corresponding -se endings). As a result, standard forms include respondiera, respondieras, respondiera, respondieramos (or respondieramos), respondierais, respondieran. The -se variant yields respondiese, respondieses, respondiese, respondiésemos, respondieseis, respondiesen.

Usage: Respondieran is used after expressions of doubt, emotion, desire, or necessity in the past, or in si clauses to express hypothetical situations. For example: Quería que respondieran a la encuesta. Si respondieran, tendríamos la información necesaria. In everyday speech, the imperfect subjunctive is more common in formal writing or literary contexts, while in colloquial conversation speakers may prefer other constructions.

Relation to other tenses: Respondieran denotes an action considered non-real or contingent within a past-oriented frame. It contrasts with the present subjunctive (respondan) and with indicative forms that indicate actual past responses.

See also: responder, subjunctive mood, imperfect subjunctive, Spanish grammar.