(Present Tense) Subjunctive/El Subjunto (Presente)
When to Use
- When one subject wants, begs, advises, etc. another subject to do something. ==You need to have two subjects and two clauses==.
- What the second subject does/thinks is uncertain
- The second subject is not guaranteed to follow what the first subject desires.
- Example: She wants you to take a shower.
- But will you?
- If you have two subjects/clauses and one wants something of the other, AND you can ask, ==“But will [subject #2]?”== you should conjugate in the subjunctive.
- Impersonal clauses (e.g. it’s important, it’s better) can also trigger the subjunctive. They act as both the subject and verb.
Keywords
The following verbs will trigger the subjunctive.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| aconsejar | to advise |
| alegrarse | to make happy |
| decir (e → i) | to tell |
| esperar | to hope |
| insistir | to insist |
| mandar | to order |
| molestar | to bother |
| ojalá | hopefully |
| pedir (e → i) | to ask |
| permitir | to allow |
| preferir (e → ie) | to prefer |
| prohibir | to prohibit, forbid |
| quejarse de | to complain about |
| querer (e → ie) | to want |
| recomendar (e → ie) | to recommend |
| rogar (o → ue) | to beg |
| sentir (e → ie) | to be sorry, to regret |
| soprender | to surprise |
| sugerir (e → ie) | to suggest |
| temer | to fear, be afraid |
Conjugation
- The first subject’s verb is conjugated normally in the present tense.
- The word ==“que”== follows this first verb.
- Then, conjugate the second verb in the ==present yo form and swap the ending== (ar swaps with er/ir and vice versa).
- For -ar and -er stem changing verbs, keep stem changes in all forms except nosotros
- For -ir stem changing verbs, keep the stem change in all forms including nosotros
- For double vowel stem changes, remove the second vowel in the nosotros form only.
- Ex: dormir (o → ue) becomes durmamos instead of duermamos
- ==Remember -go, -car, -gar, and -zar verbs==
- See the chart below.
| Subject | -ar Verbs | -er/-ir Verbs |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -e | -a |
| tú | -es | -as |
| él | -e | -a |
| nosotros | -emos | -amos |
| ellos | -en | -an |
Irregular Verbs
| Verb | Yo | Tú | Él | Nosotros | Ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dar | dé | des | dé | demos | den |
| ir | vaya | vayas | vaya | vayamos | vayan |
| ser | sea | seas | sea | seamos | sean |
| haber | haya | hayas | haya | hayamos | hayan |
| estar | esté | estés | esté | estemos | estén |
| saber | sepa | sepas | sepa | sepamos | sepan |
Examples
==subject 1==/impersonal clause + %%normal verb%% + que + @@subject 2@@ + ^^subjunctive verb^^
Note: Subjects in parentheses are not necessary because they are redundant. In fact, only the yo and él form require the subject to be explicitly written because they share the same subjunctive conjugation.
It is important that you guys study every night.
Es importante que @@ustedes@@ ^^estudien^^ cada noche.
Luis orders us to look for it.
==Luis== nos %%manda%% que @@(nosotros)@@ lo ^^busquemos^^.
She advises me to know the lyrics.
==Ella== me %%aconseja%% que @@yo@@ ^^sepa^^ la letra.
You (formal) suggest to them that they get dressed.
==Usted== les %%sugieres%% que @@(ellos)@@ ^^se vistan^^.
They ask me to go away.
==Ellos== me %%pide%% que @@yo@@ ^^me vaya^^.
She tells Ana to come.
==Ella== le %%dice%% a @@Ana@@ que ^^venga^^.
I hope you use Yahoo! in Spanish.
==Yo== %%espero%% que @@tú@@ ^^uses^^ Yahoo! en español.
Hopefully it will rain coffee in the country.
Ojalá que ^^llueva^^ café en el campo!
it in general = subject 2
Ana is happy that he knows how to dance the salsa.
==Ana== %%se alegra%% que @@él@@ ^^sepa^^ bailar la salsa.
- I complain that you (familiar) don’t send me virtual postcards.
==Yo== %%me quejo de%% que @@tú@@ no me ^^mandas^^ tarjetas.
Flashcards = practice conjugating within context