3

I have a receipt from a national grocery store chain in Peru which says:

Estimado cliente:

Ud. hubiese ganado 1 opcion(es) para los fabulosos Sorteos de VEACLUB

  • Inscribase Gratis: -some url- y dicte su DNI en caja cada vez que compre en plazaVea.

I am interested in the "Ud. hubiese ganado" part.

A crumpled photo of the relevant part here and the same text I found online in a few places here.

The key thing for me is the lack of an explicit 'si' or any other conditional or subjunctive inducing fragment.

Native speakers do not seem to think it is incorrect, but I am unable to justify it with my understanding of the rules.

So I am wondering if its very use signifies an implicit excitement (how excellent that you may have won) or past conditional (you could have won). To me, it does sound nicer than something more concrete like:

Ud. puede/podría/pudiera haber ganado.

As written, is this a valid way of saying that I may have / could have won something or does it just kind of sound nice and give that idea without actually being grammatically correct?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

As written, is this a valid way of saying that I may have / could have won something?

Yes, this is grammatically correct.

Although the standard form would be "Ud. habría ganado", substitution of subjunctive (HUBIESE) for conditional (HABRÍA) is common in some regions, and "Ud. hubiese ganado" is considered correct in Spanish.
This answer of mine explains this in more detail.

The key thing for me is the lack of an explicit 'si'

It is lacking because it is implied: "Ud. hubiese ganado 1 opción (si hubiese estado inscrito)". This kind of promotions are so common, context is enough for everybody to know what you're talking about (even more so when the next line tells you to subscribe to be eligible to win the next time), so you can get away with not including the condition upon which the use of conditional is based.

Improve this answer
1
  • Para aclarar 100%, ¿en este caso hubiese es equivalente a habría? Aunque mi entendimiento de las fuentes de la RAE es que sí está permitido, otras fuentes (de menos autoridad) dicen que solo "hubiera" puede reemplazar "habría" y que "hubiese" no puede. Un ejemplo: "In these rare cases where the -ra form is used instead of the conditional, the -se form can't be used as a substitute for the conditional." (thoughtco.com/two-conjugations-one-meaning-3079836)
    – Haven Hash
    Commented Feb 16, 2019 at 20:37
3

It means "You could have won" and refers about a lost chance to win because you didn't subscribe yet. So if you subscribe you possibly will have future chances to win (but that's a ton of lies, you know). And you're right "Ud. podría haber ganado" sounds better.

I hope it served to you :)

Improve this answer
0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.