EL SUBJUNTIVO
SUBJUNCTIVE vs. INDICATIVE
So far, all of the opinions, statements, questions, narrations, and other ideas you’ve learned to express in Spanish
have been in the INDICATIVE MOOD. This means you are sticking with the facts, the ‘black-and-white’
descriptions of actions and events. You did this in the past, present and simple future tenses. But, once you
begin to talk about one’s subjective attitudes towards an action that is uncertain or
hypothetical, you’ve just
crossed over into the SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.
As we learned today in class, this is somewhat like how we viewed commands – commanding people to do
something does not mean they will do it, but it indicates what we want to happen or how we feel about what they
do. Likewise when we are trying to make a case for why someone should do something, we often use expressions
like, “It’s important that…” “It’s necessary that…” “It’s better that… “It’s urgent that…” or “It’s good/bad that…” We
can be even more direct with phrases like, “Mom, I need [that] you to buy me new shoes for track.” Does this mean
she is buying me shoes? No, it just expresses how I feel about the idea of her buying them for me. Our doubts or
disbelief, along with our emotional reactions to another’s actions fall into the subjunctive mood category as well,
but more about that later.
SO HOW DO THE SUBJUNCTIVE PHRASES WORK? HOW ARE THEY USED?
(Here is a summary of what can be found in your textbook on pages 108-110; 138-139; 142-143)
-
The SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD express the speaker’s subjective attitudes towards events, actions, or states viewed
as uncertain (like new shoes) or hypothetical.
-
These include:
Expressions of
Will
Influence
Emotion
and
Expressions of
Doubt,
Disbelief
Denial
-
Subjunctive expressions must have a ‘trigger’ or phrase that sets up the mood. For an extensive list of ‘triggers’
see the last page of this document. The trigger is in the INDICATIVE MOOD. The word QUE (most often
dropped in English) serves as a connector between the two phrases. The SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD comes after
QUE. Look at these side-by-side examples:
Mom, I need

Mamá, necesito
[THAT]
+
QUE
you to buy me new shoes.

me compres unos nuevos zapatos
-
Completa el siguiente ejemplo.
Pati, I need

_______________, _____________
[THAT]
+
_________
you help me with my homework

me ayudes __________ _____ ___________.
HOW DO I CONUGATE IN THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD?
Verbs in the subjunctive mood are conjugated similarly to the command forms we’ve been practicing (Ud./Uds. and
the negative ‘tú’), with a couple minor tweaks on some of the stem-changers.
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE ENDINGS OF REGULAR VERBS
-e
-es
-e
-ar verbs
-emos
-éis
-en
-a
-as
-a
-er / ir verbs
-amos
-áis
-an
*Note that the ‘yo’ and the third person (él, ella, ud.) have the same endings.
VERBS WITH IRREGULAR ‘YO’ FORMS have the same irregularity in all forms in the present subjunctive.
(Completa la tabla abajo por mirar los ejemplos en la p. 109)
INFINITIVO
PRESENTE INDICATIVO
RAÍZ DEL VERBO
conocer
conozco
PRESENTE SUBJUNTIVO - yo
conozca
decir
dig-
hacer
hago
oír
oigo
haga
poner
pong-
tener
tengo
traer
traig-
venir
traiga
venga
ver
veo
ve-
VERBS ENDING IN -CAR, -GAR, -ZAR in the subjunctive will have a spelling change in all forms because
they’re being changed to the opposite vowel –e-.
SACAR
JUGAR
ALMORZAR
saque
saquemos
juegue
jueguemos
almuerce
almorcemos
saques
saquéis
juegues
jueguéis
almuerces
almorcéis
saque
saquen
juegue
jueguen
almuerce
almuercen
STEM-CHANGING VERBS IN THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
If they are –AR or –ER verbs, the stem-changes are the same as in the indicative mood
EX: PENSAR: pienso—>piense, pienses, piense, pensemos, penséis, piensen
EX: VOLVER: vuelvo—> vuelva, vuelvas, vuelva, volvamos, volváis, vuelvan
For –IR stem-changing verbs, there’s one additional change – the NOSOTROS and VOSOTROS forms undergo
a stem-change too, but not necessarily the same as the indicative mood! (It has to do with the
stressed/unstressed vowel sound, but it’s easier just to memorize the common verbs we use for now.)
PEDIR
DORMIR
pida
pidamos
duerma
durmamos
pidas
pidáis
duermas
durmáis
pida
pida
duerma
duerman
*Other –IR stem-changing verbs like these include: sentir (to feel); mentir (to lie); preferir (to prefer); morir (to die)
IRREGULAR VERBS – THE USUAL SUSPECTS! If you’ll recall our song on commands, “When you have
commands, remember the pronouns, negative in front, affirmative attach…” it ended with this chant: “No seas,
sepas, veas, hayas, vayas, des, estés.” What were irregular negative ‘tú’ commands are basically the roots for our
irregular verbs in the subjunctive. Completa la tabla con las formas en la p. 110.
DAR
yo
dé
tú
des
Ud., él, ella
IR
SABER
vaya
sepa
estés
SER
seas
esté
nosotros
demos
vosotros
deis
uds., ellos, ellas
ESTAR
vayamos
sepamos
estéis
estén
seáis
sepan
sean
*The SUBJUNCTIVE of haber (used to say there is/are -hay- ) is irregular as well: haya
===============================================================================================
¡A tí te toca! – Your turn! Complete the following phrases with the missing verb in either the INDICATIVE
or the SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
El profesor _________________________(QUERER) que nosotros limpiemos la clase antes de salir.
Mis padres quieren que yo ___________________________(LIMPIAR) el baño cada semana.
Es importante que (tú) ______________________________(ESCRIBIR) la tarea en tu agenda.
________(SER) necesario que mis padres paguen la cuenta de Comcast para que tengamos el
Internet en casa.
Mis amigos ______________________(ESPERAR) que yo pueda participar en el equipo de
baloncesto.
Yo prefiero que mi hermanito no ___________________________(JUGAR) con sus juguetes en mi
cuarto.
Es bueno que nosotros no _______________________________(TENER) tarea esta noche.
Es mejor que los jugadores ___________________________(IR) al gimnasio antes de la práctica.