Question: I am studying Spanish with the Michel Thomas Method.

It states that in Spanish, `"Had"` is `"había"`:

```
Lo había comprado. / I had bought it.

```

If using `"if"`, `"Had"` becomes `"hubiera"` as this expresses an element of doubt in the word `"had"`:

```
Si lo hubiera sabido, lo habría hecho./ If I had known it, I would have done it.

si hubiera estado allí anoche / if I had been there last night

```

Later on, it gives this example:

```
Si tuviera el tiempo lo haría. / If I had the time, I would do it.

```

I am confused: Why is there no `hubiera` in this last example? I assume `tener (have)` has been modified into `tuviera` to express doubt, but why isn't `hubiera` used?

Answer: 
I'll try to write my comments as an answer.

First, I would say that your assumption is correct, `hubiera` goes into `tuviera`. And that's it. 

On a personal remark, I don't know if this method is helping you but I don't think direct translation is a good idea when learning languages. In particular, subjunctive tenses are kind of dificult to translate directly so you're going to have a rough time with it. I would look for subjunctive tenses in spanish, they are constructed according to rules, it's not random.

What I mean is that you have to use `tuviera` instead of `hubiera` because you're trying to say "another thing" so you do not need `haber` as auxiliar verb. 

You can "tener" A LOT of things (hunger, anger, dissapointment, etc). It does not have to be a real object but yes, if you have/would have a real object then you tienes/tendría o tuviera. Since `hubiera` is working as the auxiliar verb (just as have is used for present perfect as auxiliar verb) it is needed for some verbs that use "hubiera". Since `tener` is not one of the verbs that need auxiliar, you can use `tuviera` (and this is what I mean when I said "you are trying to say another thing") `Hubiera` works for subjunctive as auxiliar conjugation of `haber`, but you also have `haya` and so on check [es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modo\_subjuntivo](http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modo_subjuntivo)

Also, keep in mind that subjunctive mode is one of the last things that native people learn during elementary school and it is seldom used correctly because of its difficulty.
**had** becomes **hubiera/hubiese/tuviera/tuviese** when dealing with conditional sentences.
In this case, to form the Third Conditional, we use *if + past perfect* where the past perfect is not translated as *había* for the word *had* but *hubiera/hubiese/tuviera/tuviese.*

Remember that *have = haber/tener*. The examples uses *tuviera* because there's first person talking there. — *Si (yo) tuviera* (...) —

If we say — *Si hubiera el tiempo, lo haría —*, it makes sense but it's not 100% for clear what we're talking about. That expression is used but not often.

The same if we put — *Si yo hubiera el tiempo, lo haría* —, it's wrong because its lack of coherence, hence we put *had = tuviera* to make it clear. — *Si yo tuviera el tiempo, lo haría.* —