Querría que me lo compruebes / comprobaras / comprobases: verb tense choice after expressions of attenuated volition in European Spanish

Abstract

The present article, based on empirical material of 552 cases, focuses on the temporal realization of the verb of the subordinate clause after expressions of attenuated volition with querer (quisiera/querría/quería) in Peninsular Spanish. It also deals with variation in the choice of the form of the modal verb in these structures. The initial hypothesis is that the non-canonical use of the present subjunctive in these constructions is becoming increasingly common especially after the form quisiera. The article studies the real frequency of this use in online samples of discourse, which represent the “oralized” use of language (Yus 2010). In addition, the analysis is extended to the other two expressions, to find out whether this substitution also happens after them, by analogy.