The Spanish Subjunctive Tense

The Spanish Subjunctive Tense ~ Katy

This Spanish tense is, in fact, not a tense! It`s what we call a "mood". I know that sounds confusing but bear with me! The subjunctive is very unique because it`s not used to share when something is taking place (like the present or past tenses do), it`s used to share the emotion of what is being said.

Its uses:

We use the subjunctive in Spanish when talking about wants, wishes, needs and doubt, as well as in a couple other cases but these are the most common.

Wants

"I want you to do your homework" = Quiero que hagas tus deberes

Wishes

"I hope you have a good summer" = Espero que tengas un gran verano

Needs

"I need you to wash your hands" = Necesito que limpies los manos

Doubt

I doubt you know the answer = Dudo que sepas la respuesta

You might notice a couple things about all these sentences:

1. The use of "que" after the first verb.

Where we would normally not use the word "that" in spoken English, it cannot be left out in Spanish. For example, we might say `I hope you have a good time" instead of "I hope that you have a good time", there is always a "that" in Spanish __ "Espero que lo pases bien".

2. The second verb in the sentence is very different to the present tense.

While you might be used to seeing "tienes" to mean "you have", in my second example "tengas" is used. It might look strange but it is actually pretty simple to form (see below for how to conjugate these verbs).

3. The second verb in the sentence is in the "you" form.

While it isn`t always the case that the subjunctive is used in the "you" form, it is the most common way it`s used. Instead of "I want you to do your homework", you might say "I want him to do his homework" but when expressing emotions, you`re normally addressing the person that made you feel a certain way. For example, you might be saying to your friend Carlos that Juan hasn`t been very kind and say something like "Espero que Juan y yo hablemos m s" ("I hope Juan and I talk more") and in this case, the "we" form of the verb makes the most sense. But if you really wanted Juan to talk to you more, it might make more sense to tell him yourself and say something like "Juan, espero que te conviertas en una personas m s agradable" ("Juan, I hope you become a nicer person").

How to form the subjunctive:

Now that you understand a little bit about when we use the subjunctive, let`s talk about how to form it.

Step 1: Take the verb you wish you talk about and put it in the "yo" ("I") form of the present tense (even if it`s an irregular verb!)

Example AR verb: "hablar" (to talk) __> hablo

Example ER verb: "tener" (to have) __> tengo

Example IR verb: "vivir" (to live) __> vivo

Step 2: Remove the final "o" from the word

Hablo __> habl-

Tengo __> teng-

Vivo __> viv-

Step 3: Add the endings

For AR verbs, add the present tense endings for ER and IR verbs

Hablar __> hable*, hables, hable, hablemos, habl is, hablen

For ER and IR verbs, add the present tense endings for AR verbs

Tener __> tenga*, tengas, tenga, tengamos, teng is, tengan

Vivir __> viva*, vivas, viva, vivamos, viv is, vivan

*the "yo" ("I") form takes the " l/ella" ("he/ she/ it") form

Simply put, the subjunctive is formed by swapping round the present tense endings __ so AR verbs act like ER and IR verbs and ER and IR verbs act like AR verbs!

There you have it! Now you have a basic overview of when and how to use the subjunctive!

Next steps:

Read or listen to content in Spanish and see if you can notice any verbs that are in the subjunctive!

Try to use the conjugation guide to see if you can try to put any verbs you know into the subjunctive!

Try wowing a native by using a subjunctive in conversation!

Study further into other uses of the subjunctive, irregular verbs in the subjunctive or even the subjunctive in different tenses!

Hope to see you in a lesson soon,

Katy