Sequence of Tenses
The sequence of tenses in Spanish is stricter in Spanish than in French. The main difference between the two languages is the use of the imperfect subjunctive which is general in Spanish. In French, it is now found only in writing and even then, only in the 3rd person singular. Nothing like this in Spanish. It is found in all forms!
As a reminder, the sequence of tenses is the act of replicating a tense in a subordinate clause based on the tense of the main clause.
| Tense of the main clause |
Tense of the subordinate clause |
| Present indicative Present perfect Simple and anterior future Imperative |
Present subjunctive |
| Past tenses Imperfect Pluperfect Preterite Preterite anterior Past and anterior conditional |
Imperfect subjunctive |
Note that there is also the future subjunctive in Spanish which is no longer used. Traditionally, it was used when the main clause was in the future.
Here are some examples of these sequences:
In the present:
Su madre está dando las órdenes para que se sirva la cena.
Her mother is giving orders for dinner to be served
In the past:
Su madre estaba dando las órdenes para que se sirviera la cena.
Her mother was giving orders for dinner to be served.
To conclude on this subject, note that when the verb is introduced by como si, igual que si, lo mismo que si, the tense used is the imperfect subjunctive or the pluperfect.