THE SUBJUNCTIVE
All the Spanish tenses studied so far have belonged to the indicative mood. Verbs which fall into this indicative mood are verbs which express events or states which are considered factual, definite, or part of the speaker. s experienced reality. The subjunctive is used to mark events or states that the speaker considers not part of reality or of his/her experience.
Sentences in the subjunctive are broken down into two clases, joined together by a conunction. The main clause is the clause which presents the actual subject and main verb of a sentence, and the dependent or secondary clause contains the desired action or end result and/or whom the main subject desires to perform this particular action. Both clauses will often be joined together with the conjunction que .
Examples
: Yo quiero que ustedes hagan la tarea.Yo quiero
= Main subject, main verb (MAIN CLAUSE!)que
= conjunctionustedes hagan la tarea
= desired action/ end result, and the subject which will *hopefully* perform it.If the subjunctive tense were to be viewed mathematically, we could assign it the following equation:
Formula:
Let` s apply the formula:
\ \ \ \
S1 V1 S2 V2
Forms of the Present Subjunctive: regular verbs
Ella quiere que yo estudie química. | She wants me to study*** Chemistry. |
tú estudies | She wants you to study Chemistry. |
él, ella, usted estudie | She wants him, her, you to study Chemistry. |
nosotros estudiemos | She wants us to study Chemistry. |
vosotros estudiéis | She wants you all to study Chemistry. |
ellos, ellas, ustedes estudien | She wants them / you all to study Chemistry. |
**Note that you are simply switching regular - ar verb endings with regular - er verb endings to form the present subjunctive with - ar verbs.
Ella espera que yo comprenda química. | She hopes that I understand Chemistry. |
tú comprendas | She hopes that you understand Chemistry. |
él, ella, usted comprenda | She hopes that he, she, you understand Chemistry. |
nosotros comprendamos | She hopes that we understand Chemistry. |
vosotros comprendáis | She hopes that you all understand Chemistry. |
ellos, ellas, ustedes comprendan | She hopes that they / you all understand Chemistry. |
**Note that you are simply switching regular - er verb endings with regular - ar verb endings to form the present subjunctive with - er verbs.
Ella prefiere que yo viva aquí. | She prefers that I live here. |
tú vivas | She prefers that you live here. |
él, ella, usted viva | She hopes that he, she, you live here. |
nosotros vivamos | She prefers that we live here. |
vosotros viváis | She prefers that you all live here. |
ellos, ellas, ustedes vivan | She prefers that they / you all live here. |
**Note that you are simply switching regular - ir verb endings with regular - ar verb endings to form the present subjunctive with - ir verbs.
STEM
CHANGES:
Verbs ending in -ar and -er that have changes in the vowel of the stem in the present indicative tense have these same changes in the present subjunctive:
Le aconsejan a ella que piense más. They advise her to think more.
Nos aconsejan que pensemos más. They advise us to think more.
Javier espera que yo encuentre las llaves. Javier hopes that I find the keys.
Javier espera que encontremos las llaves. Javier hopes that we find the keys.
* Verbs ending in -ir that have the change e>ie or e>i in the present indicative also have these changes in the present subjunctive. These verbs also have an i in the stem of the nosotros and vosotros forms of the present subjunctive. Dormir and morir have the o>ue stem change in the present subjunctive and u in the stem of the nosotros and vosotros forms.
Sentir-to feel | |
sienta | sintamos |
sientas | sintáis |
sienta | sientan |
Seguir-to follow, continue | |
siga | sigamos |
sigas | sigáis |
siga | sigan |
Dormir-to sleep | |
duerma | durmamos |
duermas | durmáis |
duerma | duerman |
Verbs that have an irregularity such as -g or -zc in the yo form of the present indicative have that same irregularity in all persons of the present subjunctive. These irregularities occur only in -er and -ir verbs, and therefore all the present subjunctive endings have the vowel -a- .
Infinitive | present indicative (yo form) | present subjunctive |
caer - to fall | caigo | caiga, caigas, caiga, caigamos,caigáis, caigan |
decir -to say, tell | digo | diga, digas, diga, digamos, digáis, digan |
hacer - to do, make | hago | haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan |
oír - to hear | oigo | oiga, oigas, oiga, oigamos, oigáis, oigan |
tener - to have | tengo | tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan |
traer - to bring | traigo | traiga, traigas, traiga, traigamos, traigáis, traigan |
venir - to come | vengo | venga, vengas, venga, vengamos, vengáis, vengan |
Infinitive | present indicative (yo form) | present subjunctive |
conocer-to know, meet | conozco | conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos,conozcáis, conozcan |
parecer-to appear, seem | parezco | parezca, parezcas, parezca, parezcamos, parezcáis, parezcan |
construir-to build, construct | construyo | construya, construyas, construya, construyamos, construyáis, construyan |
ver- to see | veo | vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean |
Estar | Dar |
esté | dé |
estés | des |
esté | dé |
estemos | demos |
estéis | deis |
estén | den |
Infinitive | Subjunctive stem | Present subjunctive |
haber - to have | hay- | haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan |
ir - to go | vay- | vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan |
saber - to know | sep- | sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan |
ser - to be | se- | sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean |