The subjunctive in Spanish
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. Most commonly (although not
always), the subjunctive verb is used in a clause that starts with the relative pronoun que
(meaning "which," "that" or "who"). Frequently, the sentences that contain a subjunctive
verb are used to express doubt, uncertainty, denial, desire, commands or reactions to
the clause containing the subjunctive verb. Compare the following two sentences:
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Indicative: Pedro come. (Pedro is eating.)
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Subjunctive: Espero que Pedro coma. (I hope that Pedro is eating.)
What is the subjunctive?
It can be a way to show that the speaker is reacting emotionally to the event referred to.
e.g. "me alegro que trabaje aquí" (I'm glad that she works here). Other common examples
in this category are:- "es una lástima que" (it's a pity that), "me sorprende que" (it
surprises me that")
Another big use of the subjunctive is in subordinate clauses where there is a change of
subject if the event in the subordinate clause is not a reality or doubtful (because it hasn't
happened yet) e.g. "no creo que lo compren" (I don't think that they'll buy it)
Note: the subordinate clause is the bit that comes after the "que"
In Spanish, the subjunctive (subjuntivo) is used in conjunction with expressions of
emotion, opinion, or viewpoint.
It is also used to describe situations that are considered unlikely or are in doubt, as well as
for expressing disagreement, volition (will), or denial.
There are many common expressions that commonly introduce subjunctive clauses.
Examples include:
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Es una lástima (pena) que "It's a shame that"
Quiero que "I want..."
Ojalá que "Hopefully..."
Espero que "I hope ...."
Deseo que "I wish..."
Dudo que " I doubt...."
Sugiero que " I suggest....."
Recomiendo que "I recommend....."
Me alegro que "I'm happy...."
Tengo miedo de que "I'm scared...."
Es mejor que " It's best...."
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Indicative (statement of fact): Britney está enferma. (Britney is sick.)
Indicative (statement of fact): Sé que Britney está enferma. (I know that Britney
is sick.)
Subjunctive (doubt): No es cierto que Britney esté enferma. (It is uncertain that
Britney is sick.)
Subjunctive (denial): No es verdad que Britney esté enferma. (It is not true that
Britney is sick.)
Subjunctive (reaction): Estoy feliz que Britney esté enferma. (I am happy that
Britney is sick.)
Subjunctive (desire): Espero que Britney esté enferma. (I hope that Britney is
sick.)
Subjunctive (desire): Preferimos que Britney esté enferma. (We prefer that
Britney be sick.)
Subjunctive (command): Insisto que Britney esté enferma. (I insist that Britney
be sick.)
Subjunctive WEIRDO acronym
W Wishes, desires,
Imperatives
Quiero que él.., Deseo que ella..., Necesito que usted..., Espero que tú...; Mando que...,
insisto que...
I Want or Need someone else to do something, I Order or Insist that someone to do
something
E Emotion
Me alegro que..., me entristo que..., Me enojo que..., Me asusto que...
I'm Happy, Sad, Angry or Scared, etc. that something or someone does something
I Impersonal observations
Es bueno que..., Es Importante que..., Es Posible que...
It's good that.., It's important that.., It's possible that....
R
Recommendations
Recomiendo que..., Sugiero que...
I Recommend or Suggest that someone else do something
D Doubt, Denial, Disbelief
Dudo que.., No creo que.., ¿Crees que..?, niego que...
I Doubt that, I Don't believe that..., Do you believe that...? I Deny that....
O
Ojalá
Ojalá que...
Let's hope to God that.., God willing that..,
Always use the subjunctive after these subordinating conjunctions:
para que: in order that, so that
en caso de que: in case that
a menos que: unless
antes de que: before
con tal (de) que: provided (that)
When to use what subjunctive in Spanish
(The sequence of tenses / la concordancia de tiempos)
Before starting, you should be familiar with the following terms:
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“Governing verb” refers to the verb which causes the subjunctive to be used (for
noun clauses, e.g., Quiero que vengas) or the verb which determines the time of
the action (present, past, future) in the accompanying subordinate clause.
“Present time” tenses include the present (indicative [hablo] and subjunctive
[hable]), present perfect (indicative [he hablado] and subjunctive [haya
hablado]) and future perfect [habré hablado], as well as commands [¡Habla!
¡Hable!, etc.].
“Past time” tenses include all others: the imperfect (indicative [hablaba] and
subjunctive [hablara]), preterit [hablé], past perfect (indicative [había hablado]
and subjunctive [hubiera hablado or hubiese hablado]), conditional [hablaría],
and conditional perfect [habría hablado].
“Simple tenses” are the one-word forms. The simple tenses of the indicative are
the present [hablo], future [hablaré], imperfect [hablaba], and preterit [hablé];
the simple tenses of the subjunctive are the present [hable] and imperfect
[hablara] tenses. The conditional* [hablaría] is also a simple tense.
“Compound tenses” or “perfect tenses” are the forms composed of the helping
verb haber plus the past participle. The compound tenses in the indicative are the
presente perfect [he hablado], the past perfect [había hablado], and the future
perfect [habré hablado]; the compound tenses in the subjunctive are the present
perfect (haya hablado) and the past perfect [hubiera hablado or hubiese
hablado]. The conditional perfect* [habría hablado] is also a compound tense.
*The conditional tenses are considered by some to be the two tenses of a special
mood, the conditional mood. Others treat them as part of the indicative mood.
When do you use which subjunctive tense? Assuming you know that the subjunctive is
required, a simplified rule for determining which subjunctive tense to use is as follows:
With a governing verb in a “present time” tense use only a “present time” tense of
the subjunctive; with a governing verb in a “past time” tense, use only a “past time”
subjunctive. In either case the simple subjunctive tense is used to express a
simultaneous or future action, and the perfect tense is used to indicate a previous
activity.
Situation 1
When the governing verb in a “present time” tense
If the governing verb is
in one of these tenses:
use one of these tenses when the subjunctive is required:
present indicative
future indicative
present subjunctive [for a simultaneous or future state or
future action]
imperative (command)
present perfect indicative
OR
future perfect indicative
present subjunctive
present perfect
subjunctive
present perfect subjunctive [for a prior state or action {or the
imperfect subjunctive where the imperfect indicative would
otherwise be used}]
Examples:
Dudo que
vengan.
Dudo que
hayan
venido.
I doubt that they
are coming [right
now].
I doubt that they
will come [in the
future].
I doubt that they
came [in the past].
Governing verb: Dudo (present indicative)
Subordinate verb: vengan (present subjunctive to
indicate a simultaneous or future event)
Governing verb: Dudo (present indicative)
Subordinate verb: hayan venido (present perfect
subjunctive to indicate a previous event)
I doubt that they
have come.
Situation 2
When the governing verb in a “past time” tense
If the governing verb is
in one of these tenses:
use one of these tenses when
the subjunctive is required:
imperfect indicative
preterit indicative
imperfect subjunctive [for a
simultaneous or future state or
action]
conditional
OR
conditional perfect
imperfect subjunctive
past perfect subjunctive [for a
prior state or action]
past perfect subjunctive
Examples:
Dudaba que
vinieran.
Dudaba que
hubieran
venido.
I doubted that they
were coming [right
then].
I doubted that they
would come [in the
future].
Governing verb: Dudaba (imperfect
indicative)
Subordinate verb: vinieran (past subjunctive
to indicate a simultaneous or future event)
Governing verb: Dudaba (imperfect
indicative)
I doubted that they had
come [earlier].
Subordinate verb: hubieran venido (past
perfect subjunctive to indicate a previous
event)
When a governing verb in the present, future, or future perfect tense and the subjunctive
is required in a subordinate clause, use the present or present perfect subjunctive; with a
governing verb in a “past time” tense —imperfect, preterit, past perfect, conditional, or
conditional perfect—, use only a “past time” subjunctive: imperfect or past perfect. In
either case the simple subjunctive tense (present for “present time”, or imperfect for “past
time”) is used to express a simultaneous or future action, and the perfect tense (present
perfect for “present time”, or past perfect for “past time”) is used to indicate a previous
activity.
REMINDER: When the governing verb is in a past tense and the subjunctive is required,
a past subjunctive is almost always used. The conditional is considered a past tense..
Special situations involving the past subjunctives.
1. Como si (“as if”) MUST be followed by a past subjunctive:
El habla como si fuera rico.
He talks as if he were rich.
Ella habla como si hubiera vivido en
México.
She talks as if she has (had) lived in
Mexico.
2. Ojalá and the subjunctive. Ojalá plus the present subjunctive is used in the sense of “I
hope”; with a past subjunctive, it means “I wish”, and implies that something is
hypothetical or contrary-to-fact:
Ojalá que esté aquí.
I hope she's here. [She might be here.]
Ojalá que haya estado aquí.
I hope she's been here. [She may have been here.]
Ojalá que estuviera aquí.
I wish she were here. [She's not here.]
Ojalá que hubiera estado aquí. I wish she had been here. [She has not been here.]
The Past Perfect subjunctive is formed in the same way we form the past perfect in the
indicative! We need a conjugation of the verb Haber and a past participle. The only
difference is that we conjugate Haber in the Past (Imperfect) Subjunctive!
Haber
yo
tú
él, ella,
usted
nosotros
ellos, ellas,
ustedes
hubiera
hubieras
hubiera
hubiéramos
hubieran
And we still use the same past participles as we do for both the regular and the
subjunctive Present Perfect:
Esperaba que Ryan hubiera comprado la
cerveza.
I was hoping that Ryan had bought the
beer. [Implied: that he did not buy it.]
Me alegré de que Tracy hubiera ido a
España con su clase.
I was happy that Tracy went (had gone) to
Spain
Dudábamos que hubieran llegado.
We doubted that they had arrived.
Me gustaría que Joann hubiera
matriculado en la clase de español 101B
el semestre pasado.
I would have liked that Joann had enrolled
in the Spanish 101B class last semester.
(alas, she didn't)
We use the past perfect subjunctive when we want to express a reaction we had to or an
emotion we felt in the past about something that had happened or that were to have
happened.
If” clauses. The indicative is used for both the “if” and “result” clauses if it is a “real”
condition. In an “unreal” or “contrary-to-fact” condition, a past subjunctive is used
in the “if” clause, and normally the conditional is used in the result clause. For presentor future-time unreal conditions, the imperfect subjunctive is used in the “if”clause and
the conditional is used in the main clause; for past-time unreal conditions, the pastperfect
subjunctive is used in the “if” clause, and the conditional perfect is used for the main
clause.
If you earn more money, [Indic.: real condition in present
Si ganas más dinero,
we'll go to Bogota.
or future time]
iremos a Bogotá.
If you earned more money, [Imperfect subj. & cond.: unreal
Si ganaras más dinero,
we would go to Bogota.
condition in present or future
iríamos a Bogotá.
time]
[Past perfect subj. & cond.
Si hubieras ganado más If you had earned more
perfect: unreal condition in past
dinero, habríamos ido a money, we would have
gone to Bogota.
time]
Bogotá.
El pretérito y el imperfecto
The usage of the preterite and the imperfect is one of the most difficult aspects of Spanish
for an English-speaker. Essentially, both the preterite and the imperfect are past tenses,
much as the way "he did" and "he was doing" both express past action in English. The
deciding factor between the two tenses is a characteristic of verbs not frequently talked
about in English: aspect.
Every action has a beginning, a middle, and an end. When one wishes to focus on the
middle of an action, the action is on-going, that is, nothing changes radically (which is
not to say that nothing happens). For example, "he was eating" indicates the "middle" of
the action of eating in the past. We don't know when he started to eat or when he finished
(or even if he finished). We just know that at a certain time in the past, he was in the
middle of eating. This focus on the middle of an action is called the imperfective aspect.
Not surprisingly, it is associated with the imperfect tense in Spanish, for example:
hablaba
I was speaking
viajábamos
we used to travel
estaban
they were
In each case, there is no notion that the action began or ended, only that at some point it
was on-going. Notice, however, that English has three different, common ways to
indicate the imperfect: the past progressive ("was speaking") to show that a single action
continued, the "used to" construction to show that a series of separate actions continued,
and the simple past, used particularly with verbs that show state of mind or body ("was,"
"thought," etc.) as ongoing in the past.
If the imperfect is used to denote the middle of an action, the preterite is used to indicate
the beginning or the end of an action. Sometimes it requires some thought to determine
which part of the action is being described. For example, "The telephone rang at 8 last
night" sounds like an action that is over and therefore we are describing the end of it. But
the point of view is always some point in the past, in this case, at 8 last night. At that
time, the telephone began to ring. It wasn't ringing at 7:59, but it very well might have
rung until 8:01 or 8:02. When one says, "I shut the door," on the other hand, by the time
one says that, the door is already shut; the action has been completed.
There are many other ways to describe when one should use the imperfect or the
preterite, but all of them are just different ways of describing the aspect of the verb in
question. For example, one usually uses the imperfect to describe background (ongoing)
actions and states, or something that was going on when another action interrupted.
Likewise, the preterite is used to describe a series of discrete actions that occurred in
sequence and then were over. Of course, there are always some uses that do not
necessarily fit the rule, such as the fact that one always tells time in the imperfect ("era la
una"), and there are even some verbs whose meaning (or at least whose translation)
changes when one uses one tense or the other. Here are a few examples; note that the
standard meaning is the one reflected by the imperfect:
Verb
Preterite
Imperfect
saber
supe - "I found out"
sabía - "I knew"
conocer
conocí - "I met"
conocía - "I knew"
querer
quise - "I tried"
quería - "I wanted"
SAFE WATERS: El Pretérito versus El Imperfecto
SAFE: When to use the preterite
When you want to say that you DID or _________ed something. Also, when you want to
talk about a Specific Instance, an Action that interrupts an ongoing event, Focus on the
beginning/ending of an action or an Enclosed amount of time. SNAP SHOT
CAMERA!!!!!
Common words: ayer, anoche, el año pasado, el mes pasado, una vez
WATERS: When to use the imperfect
When you want to say you USED TO do something or WAS/WERE + ING something in
the past. Also, when you want to talk about Weather, Age, Time, Emotion, Reptetion or
Setting/description in the past. VIDEO CAMERA!!!
Common words: muchas veces, todos los días, siempre, cada día (semana, año)