Subjunctive MOOD – WEIRDO
The Subjunctive Mood is the second “family” (group) of tenses that allows you to express HOPES,
WISHES, DOUBTS, SHOW FEELINGS, and NEGATE (make negative statement). With the 4
tenses of the subjunctive, you are able to say: I wish my mother would let me go the party!, I’m
so happy you made a 98! I don’t believe you have a present for me! It’s important for you to go to
prom, Joe Doe will be there!
WEIRDO is an acronym used to help you remember the kind of verbs in the Indicative (main
clause) that will TRIGGER a subjunctive in the dependent clause.(Not all verbs trigger subjunctive).
W – ish or want - querer, desear, esperar
E – motions (feelings)
I – mpersonal expressions (It is a good idea that … ; It’s better that…)
R – ecommendation (I recommend that… He suggests that…)
D – oubt ( He doesn’t believe that …; I doubt that…)
OJALÁ (which is just a word – not a verb- that means: It’s hoped that …) It comes from the
Arab language.
Requirements to have a sentence in the Subjunctive:
1. You must have a compound sentence that is: a MAIN clause followed by a
DEPENDENT or subordinate clause.
2. It is necessary to have TWO DIFFERENT SUBJECTS (he, you, I, we, etc.), one in the
main clause and a DIFFERENT one in the dependent clause.
3. The clauses are separated by a QUE (that)
4. The verb that you use in the main clause MUST be a WEIRDO verb.
5. The verb in the MAIN clause is in the INDICATIVE MOOD.
6. The verb in the DEPENDENT clause is in the SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.
Example:
Indicative (main clause)
Mis padres
1st subject
quieren
Subjunctive (dependent clause)
QUE
mi hermana
estudie
medicina.
2nd subject
Do you remember how you FLIPPED a verb in commands? –AR to –E
and
–ER and –IR to –A
You flipped the verb because the verbs are ALL commands (except tú +) are in the Subjunctive form!