SUBJUNTIVO/ SUBJUNCTIVE

The subjunctive mode is used to express conjecture, emotion, uncertainty, subjectivity, influence, doubt, probability, or hypothesis that is yet unknown. Like Spanish, English has a subjunctive mode too. However, many speakers do NOT notice it because most of its forms are identical to the infinitive. There is a difference between the subjunctive and the indicative only in the singular she/he forms.

NOTE that the present indicative of the verb study is studies, but the present subjunctive is study, the form does NOT change spelling.

EXAMPLE

Present Indicative: Did you know that Juan studies every day?/ Sabías que Juan estudia todos los días?

Present Subjunctive: It is necessary that Juan study every day./ Es necesario que Juan estudie todos los días. 

 

HOW TO FORM THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE:

Regular verbs

To form the present subjunctive, remove the final -o from the first person singular (yo) of the present (indicative mode) and add the following endings:

Pronoun	CComprar / to buy	Vender/ to sell	Recibir / to receive
yo/ I	compre	venda	reciba
tú/ you	compres	vendas	recibas
él, ella, Ud./ he, she, you	compre	venda	reciba
nosotros/ we	compremos	vendamos	recibamos
vosotros/ you	compréis	vendáis	recibáis
ellos/ they	compren	vendan	reciban

IRREGULAR VERBS

a. NOTE that the irregular form in the first person singular (present tense, Subjunctive mode) is maintained throughout the entire conjugation as follows; that is the reason why the present tense is used instead of the infinitive form.

Infinitive	Conjugated
Conducir/ to drive	conduzca, conduzcas, conduzca, conduzcamos, conduzcáis, conduzcan
Conocer/ to know	conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos, conozcáis, conozcan
Traducir/ to translate	traduzca, traduzcas, traduzca, traduzcamos, traduzcáis, traduzcan
Hacer/ to do, make	haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan
Poner/ to put, place	ponga, pongas, ponga, pongamos, pongáis, pongan
Salir/ to go out	salga, salgas, salga, salgamos, salgáis, salgan
Traer/ to bring	traiga, traigas, traiga, traigamos, traigáis, traigan
Oír/ to hear	oiga, oigas, oiga, oigamos, oigáis, oigan
Ver/ to see	vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean

b. Stem-changing verbs that end in -ir and have a diphthong ( e:ie, o:ue) have an additional change (e:i, o:u) in nosotros and vosotros forms (NOTE that in the present of the indicative mode, they do NOT change)

Pronoun	Sentir/ to feel	Dormir/ to sleep
yo/ I	sienta	duerma
tú/ you	sientas	duermes
él, ella, Ud./ he, she, you	sienta	duerma
nosotros/ we	sintamos	durmamos
vosotros/ you	sintáis	durmáis
ellos/ they	sientan	duerman

c. The following are irregular verbs in the present subjunctive:

Infinitive	Conjugated
Saber/ to know	sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan
Ser/ to be	sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean
Ir/ to go	vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan
Haber/ to have (auxiliary)	haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan
Dar/ to give	dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den
Estar/ to be	esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén

d. Verbs that end in -car, -gar, and -zar have spelling change in the subjunctive to maintain the original sound of the consonant as follows:

Pronoun	Cbuscar / to look for (c:qu)	llegar/ to arrive (g:gu)	cruzar / to cross (z:c)
yo/ I	busque	llegue	cruce
tú/ you	busques	llegues	cruces
él, ella, Ud./ he, she, you	busque	llegue	cruce
nosotros/ we	busquemos	lleguemos	crucemos
vosotros/ you	busquéis	lleguéis	crucéis
ellos/ they	busquen	lleguen	crucen

e. Stem-changing verbs that end in -ar and -er have the same changes in the subjunctive mode as in the present indicative. NOTE that stems do NOT change in nosotros and vosotros.

Pronoun	Cpensar / to think	volver/ to come back
yo/ I	piense	vuelva
tú/ you	pienses	vuelvas
él, ella, Ud./ he, she, you	peinse	vuelva
nosotros/ we	pensemos	volvamos
vosotros/ you	penséis	volváis
ellos/ they	piensen	vuelvan

f. Stem-changing verbs that end in -ir and have e:i change in the entire conjugation as follows:

Infinitive	Conjugated
Pedir/ to ask	pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidáis, pidan

USES OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE

1. Except for its use in the main clauses to express commands, the Spanish subjunctive is used in a sentence that has at least 2 clauses, a main and a subordinate or dependent clause. The verb in the main clause determines the use of subjunctive or indicative mode in the subordinate clause. The most common conjunction used to join the two clauses is que (that).

EXAMPLES

·         Espero que cambiemos el proveedor./ I hope (that) we switch supplier.

·         El gerente duda que podamos cambiarlo./ The manager doubts (that) we can switch him.

 

2. Generally the subjects of the main clause and the dependant clauses are different. However, if the subject of both clauses is the same, the infinitive is used instead of the subjunctive.

EXAMPLES

·         El presidente espera que nosotros vayamos./ The president hopes that we go.

·         El presidente espera ir./ The president hopes to go.