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One of the most confusing aspects of Spanish for beginners
is the subjunctive mood. You might
already be familiar with the most common verb mood "the indicative"
mood which is considered a normal verb form, indicating both action and state
of being. You also might know "the imperative" mood used to
give commands. Now you're going to learn about the subjunctive mood, which
is very essential to Spanish, and even many simple types of statements cannot
be made properly without it.
In general, the subjunctive is a verb mood that is used to
express an action or state of being in the context of the speaker's
reaction to it. Mostly (although not always), the subjunctive
mood is used in dependent clauses introduced by que (which, that,
who) when the main clause expresses a wish, a strong emotional attitude, or an
uncertainty. Frequently, the sentences that contain a subjunctive verb are used
to express doubt, uncertainty, denial, desire/wish,
commands, reactions or a strong emotional attitude to the clause
containing the subjunctive verb. Compare the following two sentences: Indicative:
María duerme. (María is sleeping) Subjunctive: wish= Espero
que María duerma. (I hope that María is sleeping), desire=
Te ruego que duermas (I beg you to go to bed). Doubt= Dudo que
duerma (I doubt that she is sleeping).
Another example: Indicative (statement of fact):
María duerme. (Maria is sleeping) Indicative (statement of
fact): Sé que María duerme. (I know that Maria is sleeping) Subjunctive
(doubt): No es cierto que María duerma. (It is uncertain that
María is sleeping.) Subjunctive (denial): No es verdad que María
duerma. (It is not true that Maria is sleeping) Subjunctive (reaction):
Estoy feliz que María duerma. (I am happy that María is sleeping) Subjunctive
(wish): Espero que María duerma (I hope that Maria is sleeping)
Subjunctive (desire/wish): Prefiero que María duerma (I prefer that
Maria is sleeping).
The subjunctive is also used for formal commands:
¡Tenga Ud eso! (Have this!) For the negative of informal commands:
¡No duermas! (don´t sleep) For hortatory commands: ¡Durmamos!
(Let's sleep!). And after impressional expressions: es necesario que/
insisto que María duerma... (I insist that Maria is sleeping).
The subjunctive has four tenses: present subjunctive,
present perfect subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive, and past perfect (or
pluperfect) subjunctive.
So, which form to use depends on two factors: the tense of
the verb in the main clause & the time relationship between the verb in the
dependent clause and the subjunctive verb.
The Present subjunctive is
regularly formed by adding one set of personal endings to the stem of -ar
verbs and a second set of endings to verbs of the -er and -ir
conjugations, and is used to indicate an action viewed as occurring at the
same time or in the future when the governing verb is in the present.
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Spanish Subjunctive (Present Tense)
|
|
Regular
yo
tú
él, Ud
nosotros
ellos, Uds
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verb ending with –ar = e
hable
hables
hable
hablemos
hablen
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verb ending with –er = a
venda
vendas
venda
vendamos
vendan
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verb ending with -ir = iera
escriba
escribas
escriba
escribamos
escriban
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|
Irregular
yo
tú
él, Ud
nosotros
ellos, Uds
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Estar / jugar –ar = e
esté - juegue
estés - juegues
esté - juegue
estemos - juguemos
estén - jueguen
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Ser / saber –er = a
sea - sepa
seas - sepas
sea - sepa
seamos - sepamos
sean - sepan
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Ir / mentir -ir = iera
vaya - mienta
vayas - mientas
vaya – mienta
vayamos - mintamos
vayan - mientan
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Note that some other irregular verbs have different
irregularities not listed in the table above.
The Imperfect subjunctive is
formed by adding a set of endings terminating in either -ra or -se
(with no difference in usage or meaning) to the verb stem, with one set of
endings for first conjugation (-ar) verbs and another set of endings for
second (-er) and third (-ir) conjugation verbs, and is used in
the same type of situations in which the present subjunctive is used, except
that the governing verb is typically in a past tense (e.g., the preterit,
imperfect, past perfect, conditional, conditional perfect, or one of the past
subjunctives): Esperaba que él dormiera (or dormiese)
pronto (I was expecting him to sleep soon).
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Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive
|
|
Regular
yo
tú
él, Ud
nosotros
ellos, Uds
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verb ending with –ar = ara
hablara
hablaras
hablara
habláramos
hablaran
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verb ending with –er = iera
vendiera
vendieras
vendiera
vendiéramos
vendieran
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verb ending with -ir = iera
escribiera
escribieras
escribiera
escribiéramos
escribiera
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The perfect subjunctive is a compound tense formed by the present
subjunctive of haber and the past participle of the main verb. And is normally
used to indicate the action as completed with governing verbs in the present or
future tense or command forms. Examples: Me alegro de que él
haya llegado (I’m glad he has arrived):
|
Spanish Perfect Subjunctive
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Regular
yo
tú
él, Ud
nosotros
ellos, Uds
|
All
verb (-ar, -er, -ir)
haya
hayas
haya
hayamos
hayan
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hablado
+
comido He has spoken/eaten/lived
vivido
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The Pluperfect subjunctive is a compound
tense formed by the imperfect subjunctive of haber and the past participle of
the main verb. Similar to the past perfect indicative, this tense is may be used
to indicate an action or state that occurred prior to something in the past
(usually expressed by the imperfect or preterit indicative, or by the past
subjunctive): Dudábamos que hubieran dormido (We doubted that
they had slept).
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Spanish Pluperfect Subjunctive
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|
yo
tú
él/ella/usted
nosotros/vosotras
vosotros/vosotras
ellos/ellas/ustedes
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hubiera
hubieras
hubiera
hubiéramos
hubierais
hubieran
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hablado
comido
vivido
|
I
had spoken/eaten/lived
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The following is a list of clauses commonly associated with
the use of the Spanish subjunctive (about 80 expressions):
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Subjunctive in Spanish
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a
menos que (unless)
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gustar
que (to like that)
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aconsejar(le)
que (to advise that)
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gustaría
que (would like that)
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alegrarse
de que (to be happy that)
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hace
falta que (to be necessary that)
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|
antes
(de) que (before)
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hasta
que (until)
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con tal (de) que (so that)
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importar(le) que (to matter)
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conviene
que (it is advisable that)
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insistir
en que (to insist that)
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|
cuando
(when)
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mandar
que (to order that)
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dar(le) miedo de que (to be afraid that)
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más
vale que (it's better that)
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|
decir(le)
que (to tell someone to do something!)
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mientras
que (while)
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|
dejar
que (to allow someone to do something)
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molestar(le)
que (to bother)
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|
después
(de) que (after)
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negar
que (to deny that)
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|
dudar
que (to doubt that)
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no
creer que (not to believe that)
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|
en caso de que (in case)
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no
es cierto que (it's not certain that)
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|
en
cuanto (as soon as)
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no
es verdad que (it's not true that)
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|
es (una) lástima que (it's a pity that)
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no estar convencido de que (not be convinced that)
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|
es
aconsejable que (it's advisable that)
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no estar de acuerdo con (to not agree with)
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|
es
bueno que (it's good that)
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no
estar seguro de que (to not be sure that)
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|
es
difícil que (it's difficult for)
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no
imaginarse que (to not imagine that)
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|
es
dudoso que (it is doubtful that)
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no
parecer que (to not seem that)
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|
es
fácil que (it's easy for)
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no
pensar que (to not think that)
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|
es fantástico que (it's fantastic that)
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no
suponer que (to not suppose that)
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|
es
importante que (it's important that)
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ojalá
que (if only he would)
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|
es
improbable que (it's unlikely that)
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para
que (in order that)
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|
es
incierto que (it's uncertain that)
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parecer(le)
bien/mal que (to seem right/wrong that)
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|
es
increíble que (it's incredible that)
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pedir(le)
que (to ask someone to do something!)
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|
es
malo que (it's bad that)
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perdonar
que (to ask forgiveness for)
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|
es
mejor que (it's better that)
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preferir
que (to prefer that)
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|
es
menester que (it's necessary that)
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prohibir
que (to prohibit that)
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|
es
necesario que (it's necessary that)
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puede
ser que (it may be that)
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|
es
posible que (it's possible that)
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querer
que (imperative: to want that)
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|
es
preciso que (it's necessary that)
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recomendar(le)
que (to recommend that)
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|
es
preferible que (it's preferable that)
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rogar
que (to plead/ beg that)
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|
es
probable que (it's probable that)
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sentir
que (to regret that)
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|
es raro
que (it's rare that)
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sin
que (without)
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|
es ridículo que (it's ridiculous that)
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sugerir
que (to suggest that)
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|
es terrible que (it's terrible that)
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tan
pronto como (as soon as)
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|
esperar
que (to hope/hope that)
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temer
que (to fear that)
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estar
contento que…(to be happy that)
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tener
miedo de que (to be afraid that)
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estar en contra de que (to be against)
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vale/merece
la pena que (to be worthwhile to)
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