Presente de Subjuntivo

Quiero que hables español mejor

Grammar moods vs. tenses

Grammar tenses, like Presente, Futuro Simple, Indefinido and Imperfecto are simply sets of endings, that are added to verbs. Tenses allow us to express actions in the present, the future and the past. Apart from the tenses, there are so-called moods (modos). They represent wider groups of sets of verb endings. Let’s take Imperativo as an example. It’s not a tense, it’s a mood – Modo Imperativo. They are separate forms, that are used to give instructions or make requests to make somebody produce some actions. There are two imperatives in Spanish – Imperativo afirmativo and Imperativo negativo.

Spanish has three moods: Indicativo, Imperativo and Subjuntivo.

Modo Indicativo includes all the tenses, that you already know: Presente, Futuro Simple, Futuro Próximo, Indefinido, Imperfecto, Pretérito Perfecto, etc. They are also called Presente de Indicativo, Futuro Simple de Indicativo, Imperfecto de Indicativo. The indicative mood allows us to talk in different tenses about actions that take place in the objective reality: duermo – I sleep, se afeitó – he shaved, iremos – we will go.

Modo Imperativo is needed to ask or to give orders to people to perform actions. It doesn’t describe real actions that happen in the present, the past and the future. They express calls to action: haz los ejercicios – do the exercises, compre pan – buy bread, corred más rápido – run faster.

The third mood is called Modo Subjuntivo (Subjunctive Mood). Until now it’s been beyond our knowledge about Spanish. Its main function is to describe actions from a personal (subjunctive) point of view. It helps speakers give some personal opinion about actions that happen or might happen in real life. It’s not about the real facts, but about our attitude towards these facts. With Subjuntivo we can express wishes, hope, possibility, fear, doubt, etc. That’s why Subjuntivo is often accompanied by such verbs as querer, esperar, puede ser, dudar and many others. This is just a superficial definition of Subjuntivo, and it doesn’t provide much insight, that could make your life easier. Still, it’s something to begin with, and you’ll understand Subjuntivo better as soon as we dive deeper into it.

Presente de Subjuntivo

It’s time to learn the Spanish Modo Subjuntivo. This means, that you already know all the tenses in Indicativo and can conjugate verbs in Imperativo, which is especially important. There are four Subjuntivo tenses in Spanish, but they are quite similar in terms of how they are used. If you understand the first one well enough, the other three won’t be too difficult.

English has Subjunctive mood, too. It’s very optimized and its usage is quite reduced. Still it can be a good way of explaining the Spanish modo Subjuntivo starting with some English examples.

I wish you were here

I hope he buy bread

Note, that the verbs to be and to buy in these two sentences are not used in the Present Simple. Why is it you were and he buy, and not you are and he buys? This case is called the Subjunctive mood. The reason is that the verbs to wish and to hope require these forms, which are different from Present.

The forms of the English Subjunctive mood are not unique. There are no special endings. The verb to be in the first example takes the form of the Past Simple tense. In the second example the verb to buy is used in a neutral (infinitive) form.

What you really have to understand is that, when you say these two sentences, you express your personal (subjunctive) feelings, like a wish or a hope. The verb markers to wish and to hope in the first part of the phrase change the second part. You need to apply the Subjunctive mood with the verbs that come after to wish and to hope. It’s kind of a speaking tradition.

When it comes to Spanish, el modo Subjuntivo has its own unique forms, and the number of verb markers is way larger.

This is what the previous examples look like in Spanish:

Quiero que estés aquí

Espero que él compre pan

It’s not the simple Presente (estás and compra), that is used here. It’s Presente de Subjuntivo.

Don’t say: Quiero que estás aquí or Espero que él compra pan

Take a look at some other examples.

Deseo que estés sano – I wish you be healthy

El camarero le recomienda que pruebe el postre – The waiter recommends her that she try the dessert

El profesor propone que estudiemos el sábado – The teacher suggests that we study on Saturday

Mamá me pide que vuelva más pronto – My mom asks me to come back earlier

It’s the verb markers desear, recomendar, proponer and pedir together with the que conjunction, that require the use of Subjuntivo.

Now let’s move to the verb forms and see how Spanish verbs are conjugated in Presente de Subjuntivo.

Forms

1st group (ar)

comprar

yo – compre

tú – compres

él, ella, usted – compre

nosotros – compremos

vosotros – compréis

ellos, ellas, ustedes – compren

Try it yourself:

arreglar

yo – …

tú – …

él, ella, usted – …

nosotros – …

vosotros – …

ellos, ellas, ustedes – …

borrar

yo – …

tú – …

él, ella, usted – …

nosotros – …

vosotros – …

ellos, ellas, ustedes – …

2nd and 3d groups (er, ir)

aprender

yo – aprenda

tú – aprendas

él, ella, usted – aprenda

nosotros – aprendamos

vosotros – aprendáis

ellos, ellas, ustedes – aprendan

abrir

yo – abra

tú – abras

él, ella, usted – abra

nosotros – abramos

vosotros – abráis

ellos, ellas, ustedes – abran

Try it yourself:

correr

yo – …

tú – …

él, ella, usted – …

nosotros – …

vosotros – …

ellos, ellas, ustedes – …

vivir

yo – …

tú – …

él, ella, usted – …

nosotros – …

vosotros – …

ellos, ellas, ustedes – …

John quiere que yo hable inglés – John wishes that I speak English

Quiero que abras la puerta – I want you to open the door

El jefe pide que trabajemos más duro – The boss requests that we work harder

Try it yourself:

I wish that my father buy a car

The teacher asks that I answer the question

We need you to write your address

I wish that you live many years

Irregular verbs

You might have noticed, that verbs in Subjuntivo look like Imperativo negativo. They really do. You may think of Imperativo negativo as a particular case of Subjuntivo, except that in Imperativo negativo you can’t find such persons as yo, él, ella or ellos. So, if you remember Imperativo negativo, you won’t need to memorize many new forms in Presente de Subjuntivo.

This is also true for irregular verbs.

ser: sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean

empezar: empiece, empieces, empiece, empecemos, empecéis, empiecen

poder: pueda, puedas, pueda, podamos, podáis, puedan

tener: tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan

ir: vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan

hay: haya

Try it yourself:

cerrar

entender

perder

dormir

encontrar

volver

pedir

seguir

ofrecer

salir

hacer

decir

oír

At this point you have to learn two things:

a. There are special verb markers that express personal feelings and thoughts, such as desire, hope, recommendations, and so on, that require the Subjunctive mood. You’ll find more markers in the next lessons.

b. Spanish has special verb forms for Subjuntivo. You need to learn them and try not to confuse with Presente de Indicativo.