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Introducing the present subjunctive tense and looking at how it is formed. |
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Looking at the fundamentals. Introducing the concepts of when to use the tense. Comparing the tense as used in Spanish to how it may be expressed in English. |
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Looking at common uses of the tense in everyday speech. When to expect it! |
| What you can learn from this lesson | |
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Being able to recognise the present subjunctive tense and understanding the basics of its formation. |
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Understanding why and how the tense is used. How it is used with different sentence structures. |
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Being able to logically translate the use of the tense in a way that makes sense in English. |
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To be able to predict the usage of the tense by identifying sentences, words and structures which are commonly used in conjunction with the tense. |
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TELL ME MORE SPANISH |
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ROSETTA STONE |
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PART 1
The first part of the lesson seeks to introduce the subjunctive tense and looks at how it is formed. Often this tense is also known as the ‘present conditional’ tense. The words ‘subjunctive’ and ‘conditional’ are used in an attempt to describe how the tense is reflective of mood, desire, and the existence of doubt or potential.
A direct comparative tense like this does not exist in the English language. Of course translation is no problem, but it is less definite than the translation of other Spanish tenses and more open to judgment.
As with the other present tenses in the Spanish language the subjunctive has both regularities and irregularities. The verb endings in this tense follow a pattern which is the reverse of the simple present tense. The regular verbs hablar, comer and vivir have been used to illustrate this.
AR verbs
| personal pronoun | present subjunctive | present simple |
| hablar (to talk/speak) | hablar (to talk/speak) | |
| yo | hable | hablo |
| tú | hables | hablas |
| él/ella/usted | hable | habla |
| nosotros/nosotras | hablemos | hablamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | habléis | habláis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hablen | hablan |
ER verbs
| personal pronoun | present subjunctive | present simple |
| comer (to eat) | comer (to eat) | |
| yo | coma | como |
| tú | comas | comes |
| él/ella/usted | coma | come |
| nosotros/nosotras | comamos | comemos |
| vosotros/vosotras | comías | comíes |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | coman | comen |
IR verbs
| personal pronoun | present subjunctive | present simple |
| vivir (to live) | vivir (to live) | |
| yo | viva | vivo |
| tú | vivas | vives |
| él/ella/usted | viva | vive |
| nosotros/nosotras | vivamos | vivimos |
| vosotros/vosotras | vivías | vivís |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | vivan | viven |
You will see from the above examples that the endings of the verbs follow this pattern.
present simple tense present subjunctive tense
AR verbs - endings with e endings with a
ER verbs - endings with a endings with e
IR verbs - endings with a endings with e
Apart from this subtle difference the tense formations are almost identical in the present simple and the subjunctive. This is also true of many of the irregular verbs too.
Unfortunately there are too, a large number of irregular verbs in the present subjunctive tense that have different stems than the same verbs in the present simple tense. Listed below are a few examples. As is often the case with verb tenses in the Spanish language, some verb formations in the present subjunctive tense have little or no patterns and need to be learnt individually! Practice recognising different verb formations by looking at verb tables section of this website.
| personal pronoun | dar | saber | ir |
| (to give) | (to know) | (to go) | |
| yo | dé | sepa | vaya |
| tú | des | sepas | vayas |
| él/ella/usted | dé | sepa | vaya |
| nosotros/nosotras | demos | sepamos | vayamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | deis | sepáis | vayáis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | den | sepan | vayan |
If you have looked at the lessons on the ‘imperative’ tense you will recognise that some of the formations of this tense are identical to the formations we see for the present subjunctive tense. For a complete guide on using the ‘imperative’ tense take a look at the lesson on imperatives.
PART 2
The second part of the lesson looks at the fundamentals of when we use the present subjunctive tense. By far the most important thing to remember is that the subjunctive tense is most commonly used with certain verbs when -
A sentence contains two verbs that are used to describe different subjects. |
The best way to illustrate this is by example. Look at the following sentence:
(Yo) quiero que (tú) comas toda tu comida. - I want you to eat all your food.
(Yo) quiero comer toda tu comida. - I want to eat all your food.
Both the above sentences contain two verbs but only the first one has two different subjects (yo and tú). In this situation the subjunctive form of the verb must be used.
Where two verbs in a sentence have the same subject the infinitive form of the verb is often used. Notice that in English it doesn’t matter if the sentence has one or two subjects, the infinitive form of the second verb is still used!
Here are some other examples.
¡Él tiene miedo de que ella
le diga no! - He is
afraid she might say no!
¡Ella le pregunta que él
trabaje hasta tarde! - She asks him
to work late!
You will notice in the above examples that the first verb in both sentences is in the present simple tense. This is no coincidence. Another important point to remember is that the present subjunctive tense is usually used when:
The first verb in a sentence is in the present simple, future simple or the imperative . |
Here are some more examples.
(Yo) te enseñaré que ellos puedan
hacerlo. - I'll show you that they can do it
¿(Yo) asumo que ellos coman
los pescados? - I assume they
eat fish?
Espera hasta que él diga
que ya está bien. - Wait until
he says it's ok now.
In all of the above examples the first verb in the sentence is followed by the word ‘que’. Again this is not coincidence. Sentences using the subjunctive tense invariably incorporate the word ‘que’. Much of the time it follows directly after the first verb in the sentence.
PART 3
The last part of the lesson looks at when the present subjunctive tense is commonly used in everyday speech. The above guidelines aim to show how sentences are formed using the tense as part of grammatical accuracy, however recognising when to use the tense can also be achieved by isolating certain situations.
When asking, telling or advising somebody to do something:
(Yo) te aconsejo no pienses tanto. - I advise you not to think too much.
Mi doctor me dice que yo coma lento. - My doctor says I should eat slowly.
¡Siempre ella me pide que yo pague! - She always asks me to pay!
In the second example above you will notice
that the English translation uses the word SHOULD. If
we were to translate the English sentence back into Spanish we might instead
use.
‘Mi doctor me
dice que yo debería comer lento’.
Using the present subjunctive or ‘deber’ in this way often translates to the same thing in English.
When expressing wishes or emotions:
(Yo) quiero que (tú) me digas
la verdad. - I want you to tell me the
truth.
Él espera que ella venga
a la fiesta. - He hopes she
comes to the party.
Me alegro que ellos puedan
venir mañana. - I’m glad they
can come tomorrow
¡(Yo) lo siento que (tú)
te sientas así! - I’m sorry you feel
that way!
In certain sentences where the first verb in the sentence is impersonal. So, where the verb refers to ‘it’ rather than a person ‘he’, ‘she’ etc. These often occur in sentences expressing a need to do something or where something is possible but not actual fact:
Es posible que (tú) estés el mejor. - It is posible that you are the best.
¿Es necesario que yo
tenga que ir? -
It is necessary for me to go?
After verbs that are used to express what you think about something, but only in the negative form using NO, or to express uncertainty or doubt:
(Yo) no creo que las arañas sean
feas. - I don't think spiders are ugly.
¡Él duda que yo pueda
ganar la carrera! - He doubts that
I can win the race
When joining two sentences together using phrases with ‘que’:
Para que (so that) (Yo)
estoy gritando para que (tú) me ayudes - I'm shouting so that you help me.
Antes de que (before) ¡Vete
antes de que se empeoren! - Go, before it gets worse
Sin que(without) ¡Vamos sin que él nos vea! - Lets go without him seeing us!
Frequently, but not always the present subjunctive is used after the word ‘cuando’ (when). If these same sentences were questions then the present simple tense would be used.
Cuando (tú) vengas. - When, or whenever you come.
Cuando (tú) pienses. - When, or whenever you think.
Cuando él quiera. - When, or whenever he wants.
Cuando se vayan. - When, or whenever they leave.
In all of the examples used in this lesson that have sentences with two verbs and two different subjects the present subjunctive tense is used. It is important to remember this, even though often it is possible to identify when the tense may be used through typical word usage or conversation!
Verbs in the present subjunctive tense are never used in a sentence directly after the word si (if). The word si however, is commonly used before verbs in the imperfect subjunctive tense. This and much more about the imperfect subjunctive is discussed in another lesson.
That concludes this lesson on the present subjunctive tense. If you have
not done so already watch the actual video for this lesson and then try one of
the associated quizzes to test your understanding.
