PHRASES
| A mí me hubiera gustado crecer en una gran ciudad, llena de vida y avances tecnológicos. | I would have liked to grow up in a city, full of life and technological advances. |
| Yo habría preferido crecer en medio de la sierra, conviviendo con la naturaleza y sin recurrir a las comodidades del mundo moderno. | I would have prefered to grow up in the moutains, living with nature and without having the comforts of the modern world. |
| A mí me fascinan las culturas asiáticas. Me hubiera gustado crecer en la India o en China. | Asian cultures fascinate me. I would’ve liked to have grown up in India or China. |
| Me gustan mucho los países europeos. Haber crecido en cualquiera de ellos me habría hecho muy feliz. | I really like European countries. It would’ve made me very happy to have grown up in any of them. |
| Creo que yo hubiera estado muy a gusto en un país de sudamérica como Brasil o Colombia. Me pasaría todo el día bailando y leyendo. | I think I would’ve been content in a South American country like Brazil or Colombia. I would spend the entire day dancing and reading. |
| Quisiera haber sido Buda o aunque sea el Dalai Lama. | I would have liked to have been the Buddha or even the Dali Lama. |
| Croe que haber sido de Uzbekistán me hubiera hecho inmensamente feliz. | I think having been from Uzbekistan would’ve made me extremely happy. |
| Recorrer las montañas de San Cristóbal de las Casas a caballo ha sido siempre mi sueño imposible. | Crossing the mountains of San Cristóbal de las Casas by horse has always been my unattainable dream. |
GRAMMAR
Expressing wishes
There are many ways to express wishes in Spanish. Three common phrases are shown in the following examples:
| Quisiera estar en algún país del mediterráneo. | I wish I were in a Mediterranean country. / I would like to be in a… | |
| Ojalá fuera viernes. | I wish it were Friday. | |
| Es tu cumpleaños, tienes que pedir un deseo. | It’s your birthday; you have to wish for something. |
A very similar idea is “I would have liked to…” which can be expressed in Spanish in several different ways:
| Me hubiera gustado haber crecido en el campo. | I would have liked to have grown up in the country. | |
| Me habr�a gustado vivir al lado del mar. | I would have liked to live next to the sea. | |
| Me gustaría haber crecido en una familia culturalmente mixta. | I would like to have grown up in a culturally mixed family. |
The first example uses the following formula:
Indirect object pronoun + hubiera + gustado + haber + past participle
The second example uses this formula:
Indirect object pronoun + habría + gustado + verb in infinitive form
The third example uses the following formula:
Indirect object pronoun + gustaría + haber + past participle
