ojalá

What does “ojalá” mean in English?

1. I hope / I wish / if only

   I hope / I wish / if only (interjection; always + subjunctive; tense encodes realisability)

Example sentences

• Ojalá consigan los fondos necesarios para abrir la nueva sede antes de que acabe el año; sería una noticia estupenda para todo el equipo.

  I hope they manage to get the necessary funding to open the new branch before the end of the year; it would be wonderful news for the whole team.

• Ojalá pudiéramos vivir más cerca del mar; si tuviéramos esa opción, probablemente habríamos cambiado de ciudad hace años.

  I wish we could live closer to the sea; if we had that option, we would probably have moved cities years ago.

• Ojalá hubiéramos reservado las entradas con más antelación; ahora están agotadas y no hay forma de conseguirlas a un precio razonable.

  I wish we had booked the tickets further in advance; now they are sold out and there is no way to get them at a reasonable price.

How to use it

Ojalá is an interjection (not an adverb) derived from Arabic 'inshallah', meaning 'I hope that' or 'if only'. It always triggers the subjunctive — unlike English 'I hope', which takes indicative. The tense of the subjunctive encodes the speaker's assessment of probability: (1) ojalá + present subjunctive: a realisable wish about the present or future (Ojalá venga = I hope he comes, I think it's possible); (2) ojalá + imperfect subjunctive: a wish contrary to present reality or with low probability (Ojalá tuviera más tiempo = I wish I had more time — but I don't); (3) ojalá + pluperfect subjunctive: a wish about a past that cannot be changed — pure regret (Ojalá hubiera estudiado más = I wish I had studied more). No indicative ever follows ojalá, regardless of tense.

Topics

• Subjunctive trigger
• Future plans
• Emotion

Related Intermediate words

• recomendar
• sugerir
• dudar
• avergonzarse
• cuestionar
• poner en duda
• antes de que
• después de que