1.3: Present Subjunctive
- Page ID
- 164410
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Tiempos y modos verbales
In Spanish, there are different verb tenses (tiempos verbales), but there are also three different verb modes (modos verbales): indicative (indicativo), imperativo (imperative), and subjunctive (subjuntivo). The indicative presents real facts from the present, past, and future. In previous semesters, present, preterite, and imperfect tenses were introduced, which are all in the indicative mode. The imperative mode, which includes all command forms, was also introduced. This semester will continue with the use of different tenses in the indicative and imperative modes. Additionally, tenses in the subjunctive mode will be introduced.
Introducción al subjuntivo
The subjunctive mode is used to express will and wishes; emotions or reactions; recommendations and requests; doubt, denial, and nonexistence. It is also used with impersonal expressions, in other words, verbal phrases that are not conjugated to a specific subject. For the most part, the different tenses in the subjunctive mode will follow these general rules:
- The subjunctive is used in a two part sentence that includes a main clause (independent) and a subordinate clause (dependent).
- The subjunctive is always in the subordinate clause and cannot be used independently.
- The main clause must have a verb that is conjugated in the indicative or the imperative mode.
- The subject in the main clause is different than the subject in the subordinate clause.
Presente del subjuntivo
The present subjunctive is the present tense of the subjunctive mode. The rules on how to use the different tenses in the subjunctive mode will be introduced with examples using the present subjunctive. However, these rules will be used in later chapters with other tenses in the subjunctive mode that will require different conjugations used in similar structures.
Conjugación: verbos regulares
The conjugation process in the present subjunctive is the same as the process to conjugate formal commands, but it has a full set of conjugations:
- Conjugate the verb to "yo" in present tense.
- Drop the "-o" ending of the conjugation.
- Add new ending*.
*If the verb in infinitive form ends in "-ar", the new endings will have an "-e" (-e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en). If the verb ends in "-er" or in "-ir", the new endings will have an "-a" (-a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an).
Ejemplos
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Yo | Tú | Usted/él/ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ustedes/ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| estudiar | estudi-o | estudie | estudies | estudie | estudiemos | estudiéis | estudien |
| beber | beb-o | beba | bebas | beba | bebamos | bebáis | beban |
| escribir | escrib-o | escriba | escribas | escriba | escribamos | escribáis | escriban |
Práctica 1
Conjugación: "yo" irregular y cambios de raíz
If a verb has an irregular "yo" form or a stem-change affecting the conjugation of "yo", use the same conjugation process described above. Keep all the letters that come before the ending "-o" in the conjugation of "yo" of the present tense as the new stem for your conjugation.
Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ar" and "-er" will keep the stem-change in all conjugations except "nosotros" and "vosotros". However, stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir" will have a stem-change in the conjugations of "nosotros" and "vosotros", but it will be different. If the stem-changes from "e" to "ie" or to "i", the "nosotros" and "vosotros" forms will have an "i". If the stem-changes from "o" to "ue", the "nosotros" and "vosotros" forms will only have a "u".
Ejemplos
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Yo | Tú | Usted/él/ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ustedes/ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hacer | hag-o | haga | hagas | haga | hagamos | hagáis | hagan |
| pensar | piens-o | piense | pienses | piense | pensemos | penséis | piensen |
| dormir | duerm-o | duerma | duermas | duerma | durmamos* | durmáis* | duerman |
| pedir | pid-o | pida | pidas | pida | pidamos* | pidáis* | pidan |
| preferir | prefier-o | prefiera | prefieras | prefiera | prefiramos* | prefiráis* | prefieran |
*These conjugations have a stem-change in the "nosotros" and "vosotros" forms because the ending of the infinitive is "-ir".
Práctica 2
Conjugación: terminaciones "-car", "-gar", "-zar"
Verbs ending in "-car", "-gar", and "-zar" require a spelling change when conjugated in the present subjunctive. The ending "-car" will change to "-que", "-gar" will change to "-gue" and "-zar" will change "z" to "c".
Ejemplos
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Yo | Tú | Ustedes/él/ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ustedes/ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| comunicar | comunic-o | comunique | comuniques | comunique | comuniquemos | comuniquéis | comuniquen |
| apagar | apag-o | apague | apagues | apague | apaguemos | apaguéis | apaguen |
| comenzar | comienz-o | comience | comiences | comience | comencemos | comencéis | comiencen |
Práctica 3
Conjugación: verbos irregulares
All verbs that do not end in "-o" when conjugated in present indicative tense are irregular in the present subjunctive since they cannot follow the regular conjugation process. Fortunately, there are only six irregular verbs: dar, estar, ir, saber, ser, haber (hay).
The verb "haber" in present indicative only has one conjugation, "hay", which translates as there is or there are. In the present subjunctive, it works the same way, we have one conjugation that translates as there is and there are: haya.
There is no rule or pattern to follow when conjugating the other five verbs, just memorize their conjugations:
| Infinitivo | Presente: yo | Yo | Tú | Usted/él/ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ustedes/ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dar | doy | dé | des | dé | demos | deis | den |
| estar | estoy | esté | estés | esté | estemos | estéis | estén |
| ir | voy | vaya | vayas | vaya | vayamos | vayáis | vayan |
| saber | sé | sepa | sepas | sepa | sepamos | sepáis | sepan |
| ser | soy | sea | seas | sea | seamos | seáis | sean |
Práctica 4
Estructura: expresiones impersonales
The verbs in subjunctive mode cannot be used as an independent sentence. They always require another clause that includes a conjugated verb in an indicative or imperative tense. When using impersonal expressions with verbs conjugated in the present subjunctive, the verb in the impersonal expression will be in present indicative. Impersonal expressions are those that are not conjugated to any specific person. Most impersonal expressions start with "es" (it's).
Fórmula
This is the formula to use impersonal expressions with the present subjunctive:
Impersonal expression + que + present subjunctive
The first clause must include the impersonal expression, followed by the word "que" and the second clause, which includes a verb conjugated in the present subjunctive.
| Español | Inglés |
|---|---|
| Es importante que... | It's important that... |
| Es necesario que... | It's necessary that... |
| Es urgente que... | It's urgent that... |
| Es recomendable que... | It's recommended that... |
| Es mejor que... | It's better that... |
| Es bueno que... | It's good that... |
| Es malo que... | It's bad that... |
Ejemplos
- Es importante que los estudiantes practiquen el subjuntivo. (It's important that students practice the subjunctive.)
- Es bueno que ustedes estudien un idioma nuevo. (It's good that you study a new language.)
Práctica 5
Las frases de esta práctica necesitan la primera parte para ser oraciones completas. Escoge la frase que mejor complete las oraciones. Dale clic a la flecha (arrow) para continuar con la siguiente oración.