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= conjunction

ustedes 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:

Values: S= subject V=verb



Formula: S1 V1 +que=S2 V2



**Since the subjects are denoted as 1 and 2, Subject number 2 MUST be different from Subject number 1. Verb number 1 will be conjugated into the present indicative (regular present tense), whereas Verb number 2 will be conjugated into the present SUBJUNCTIVE.

Let` s apply the formula:

                                        Ella quiere que yo cante.

                                             \        \                 \         \

                                             S1       V1            S2      V2

 

Forms of the Present Subjunctive: regular verbs

Estudiar
Ella quiere que yo estudie química. She wants me to study*** Chemistry.
tú estudiesShe wants you to study Chemistry.
él, ella, usted estudieShe wants him, her, you to study Chemistry.
nosotros estudiemos She wants us to study Chemistry.
vosotros estudiéisShe wants you all to study Chemistry.
ellos, ellas, ustedes estudienShe 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.


center>*** A more appropriate translation would be: She wants that I study Chemistry. ("that" is covered by "que")



Comprender
Ella espera que yo comprenda química. She hopes that I understand Chemistry.
tú comprendasShe hopes that you understand Chemistry.
él, ella, usted comprendaShe hopes that he, she, you understand Chemistry.
nosotros comprendamos She hopes that we understand Chemistry.
vosotros comprendáisShe hopes that you all understand Chemistry.
ellos, ellas, ustedes comprendanShe 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.




Vivir
Ella prefiere que yo viva aquí. She prefers that I live here.
tú vivasShe prefers that you live here.
él, ella, usted vivaShe hopes that he, she, you live here.
nosotros vivamos She prefers that we live here.
vosotros viváisShe prefers that you all live here.
ellos, ellas, ustedes vivanShe 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.


***Also note that the in the subjunctive the yo form and the él, ella, usted form are identical.



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



Examples:

Espero que sientas mejor mañana.
Yo quiero que los niños duerman un poco más.


 

`YO` IRREGULARS:

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


Examples: ¡Ciudado- Que no te caigas por la acera!
Quiero que le digas a Javier la verdad.
Mamá dice que ustedes hagan su tarea ahora mismo.
Espero que oigas algo de María. No sabemos dónde está ella.
Es necesario que pongamos la mesa para la cena.
Prefiero que Javier salga conmigo y no con Lucía.
¡Espero que usted tenga un buen fin de semana!
Es importante que traigamos nuestra identificación al examen final.
Deseo que Javier venga a mi casa después de la clase de español.




Here is a table of the present subjunctive forms of other verbs that are irregular in the `Yo` form:


Infinitive present indicative (yo form)present subjunctive
conocer-to know, meetconozco conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos,conozcáis, conozcan
parecer-to appear, seemparezco 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



Examples: Ven acá, quiero que veas este programa de televisión.
No puedo vestirme de jeans. Mi mamá prefiere que yo no parezca ser ningun tipo de `tomboy`.



Dar and Estar are regular in the present subjunctive, except for the accent marks:


Estar Dar
esté dé
estés des
esté dé
estemos demos
estéis deis
estén den



HABER, IR, SER, and SABER all have irregular stems in the present subjunctive. However, their ENDINGS are regular!


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



***Try a SUBJUNCTIVE ONLINE CONJUGATION EXERCISE!!!***