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10.4: Las conjugaciones del presente del subjuntivo

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    Conjugations of the present subjunctive

    The grammatical tenses that we have studied so far are in the indicative mood, except all the commands. The indicative mood is used to discuss facts or real information and to present them objectively. However, the subjunctive mood is used to express attitudes towards events and actions.

    Like the indicative mood, the subjunctive mood has tenses: present, past, and future. In this lesson, we are going to learn how the present subjunctive is formed. We are going to conjugate regular verbs, stem-changing verbs, and irregular verbs in the present subjunctive.

    Regular Verbs

    Follow these steps to conjugate in the present subjunctive:

    1. Conjugate the verb in the "yo" form in the present tense of the indicative.
    2. Drop the final “-o”.
    3. Add new endings.

    "-ar" verbs

    New endings for "-ar" verbs: -e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. In the chart below, the verb "hablar" is used as an example of how to conjugate verbs ending in "-ar". Note that all new endings are indicated in bold.

    Subject pronoun New endings Conjugated verb

    Yo

    -e

    hable

    Tú

    -es

    hables

    Ud., él, ella

    -e

    hable

    Nosotros, nosotras

    -emos

    hablemos

    Vosotros, vosotras

    -éis

    habléis

    Uds., ellos, ellas

    -en

    hablen

    "-er" verbs and "-ir" verbs

    New endings for "-er" and "-ir" verbs: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. In the chart below, the verbs "comer" and "abrir" are used as examples of how to conjugate verbs ending in "-er" and "-ir". Note that all new endings are indicated in bold.

    Subject pronoun New endings Conjugation of "-er" ending verbs Conjugation of "-ir" ending verbs

    Yo

    -a

    coma

    abra

    Tú

    -as

    comas

    abras

    Ud., él, ella

    -a

    coma

    abra

    Nosotros, nosotras

    -amos

    comamos

    abramos

    Vosotros, vosotras

    -áis

    comáis

    abráis

    Uds., ellos, ellas

    -an

    coman

    abran

    Verbs that end in "-car", "-gar", "-zar"

    Verbs ending in "-car", "-gar", and "-zar" have a spelling change when conjugated in the present subjunctive: -car → -que, -gar → -gue, -zar → -ce

    Note: "Empezar" is a verb that ends in "-zar" and it is also a stem-changing verb. The stem-change occurs in all conjugations, except in the "nosotros" and "vosotros" forms. Note that the stem-change in the conjugations of "empezar" is noted in blue.

    Subject pronouns New endings Conjugation: verbs ending in "-car" Conjugation: verbs ending in "-gar" Conjugation: verbs ending in "-zar"

    Yo

    -e

    saque

    llegue

    empiece

    Tú

    -es

    saques

    llegues

    empieces

    Ud., él, ella

    -e

    saque

    llegue

    empiece

    Nosotros, nosotras

    -emos

    saquemos

    lleguemos

    empecemos

    Vosotros, vosotras

    -éis

    saquéis

    lleguéis

    empecéis

    Uds., ellos, ellas

    -en

    saquen

    lleguen

    empiecen

    Stem-changing verbs with "-ar" and "-er" verbs

    Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ar" and "-er" have the same stem-change as the present indicative conjugations. All stem-changes are indicated in blue in the conjugation chart below.

    Subject pronoun

    Subjunctive endings for

    "-ar"

    Cerrar

    Cierr-

    Contar

    Cuent-

    Subjunctive endings for

    "-er"

    Querer

    Quier-

    Poder

    Pued-
    Yo

    -e

    cierre

    cuente

    -a

    quiera

    pueda
    Tú

    -es

    cierres

    cuentes

    -as

    quieras

    puedas
    Ud., él, ella

    -e

    cierre

    cuente

    -a

    quiera

    pueda
    Nosotros, nosotras

    -emos

    cerremos

    contemos

    -amos

    queramos

    podamos
    Vosotros, vosotras

    -éis

    cerréis

    contéis

    -áis

    queráis

    podáis
    Uds., ellos, ellas

    -en

    cierren

    cuenten

    -an

    quieran

    puedan

    Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir"

    Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir" will undergo a stem-change from “e” to “i”, and “o” to “u” in the "nosotros" and "vosotros" conjugations, as shown in the chart below in the conjugations of "preferir" and "dormir". All stem-changes are indicated in blue in the conjugation chart below.

    Subject pronoun

    Subjunctive endings for

    "-ir"

    Preferir

    Prefier-

    Prefier-

    Prefir-

    Dormir

    Duerm-

    Duerm-

    Durm-

    Pedir

    Ped-

    Pid-

    Seguir

    Segu-

    Sig-
    ("sigo")

    Decir

    Dec-

    Dig-
    ("digo")

    Yo

    -a

    prefiera

    duerma

    pida

    siga

    diga

    Tú

    -as

    prefieras

    duermas

    pidas

    sigas

    digas

    Ud., él, ella

    -a

    prefiera

    duerma

    pida

    siga

    diga

    Nosotros, nosotras

    -amos

    prefiramos

    durmamos

    pidamos

    sigamos

    digamos

    Vosotros, vosotras

    -áis

    prefiráis

    durmáis

    pidáis

    sigáis

    digáis

    Uds., ellos, ellas

    -an

    prefieran

    duerman

    pidan

    sigan

    digan

    Irregular verbs

    There are six irregular verbs in the present subjunctive. To remember these verbs use the mnemonic device DISHES.

    Subject pronoun

    Dar

    Ir

    Ser

    Haber

    Estar

    Saber

    Yo

    dé

    vaya

    sea

    haya

    esté

    sepa

    Tú

    des

    vayas

    seas

    hayas

    estés

    sepas

    Ud., él, ella

    dé

    vaya

    sea

    haya

    esté

    sepa

    Nosotros, nosotras

    demos

    vayamos

    seamos

    hayamos

    estemos

    sepamos

    Vosotros, vosotras

    deis

    vayáis

    seáis

    hayáis

    estéis

    sepáis

    Uds., ellos, ellas

    den

    vayan

    sean

    hayan

    estén

    sepan

    This page titled 10.4: Las conjugaciones del presente del subjuntivo is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by M. Barrio De Mendoza, K Gutiérrez, H.Ho, C. Lin, & A Stere Lugo (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .