El Subjuntivo

El Subjuntivo: Overview The subjunctive is a mood in Spanish. Moods reflect how the speaker feels about an action. The subjunctive mood is used to express desires, doubts, the unknown, the abstract and emotions; A verb tense refers to when an action that takes place (present, past or future): indicativeindicative (actions, events, facts) and the imperativeimperative (commands).

Ejemplos: Indicativo- Victoria estudia español. (Victoria studies Spanish.) This states an objective fact that Victoria studies Spanish. Subjunctivo- Dudo que Victoria estudie español. (I doubt that Victoria studies Spanish.) The introduction of doubt makes it impossible to present the statement that Victoria studies Spanish as an objective fact. ¿Es indicativo o subjunctivo está oración? Es cierto que Victoria estudia español.

Words or Phrases that Indicate the Subjunctive or Indicative Because there must be some uncertainty or subjectivity to warrant the use of the subjunctive, you will find either uncertainty or certainty in the verb in the main clause of a sentence. It is very helpful if you can recognize the verbs and phrases in the main clause that indicate the subjunctive and tell them apart from similar clauses that warrant the indicative. Luckily, many of the verbs and phrases that require the subjunctive fit into the acronym UCAWEIRDO: Uncertainty, Conjunction, Adverbs, Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt/Denial, and Ojalá. Each of these concepts has its own article for more details.WishesEmotions Impersonal expressionsRecommendations Doubt/DenialOjalá

Las conjugaciones: The present subjunctive is formed in the same way as most commands. Think of this chant to help you remember the endings: Take the Yo form, Drop the –O, Add the opposite ending. hablar tener escribir YoHableTengaescriba túHablesTengasescribas Él…HableTengaescriba nosotrosHablemosTengamosescribamos Ellos…HablenTenganescriban

Verbos de AR  Yo e  Tú es  Él, Ella, Usted e  Nosotros emos  Vosotros éis  Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes en --e -- emos --es--éis -- e -- en

Verbos de ER/IR  Yo a  Tú as  Él, Ella, Usted a  Nosotros amos  Vosotros áis  Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes an --a --amos --as --áis --a --an

Car, Gar, Zar TocarLlegarAlmorzar YoToqueLlegueAlmuerce TúToquesLleguesAlmuerces Él, Ella, UstedToqueLlegueAlmuerce NosotrosToquemosLleguemosAlmorcemos VosotrosToquéisLleguéisAlmorcéis Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes ToquenLleguenAlmuercen Verbs ending in car, gar, and zar have a spelling change to keep the same sound as the infinitive. (c-qu, g- gu, z-c)

-ger, -guir Escoger g changes to jSeguir gu to g YoEscojaSiga túEscojasSigas Él…EscojaSiga nosotrosEscojamosSigamos Ellos…Escojansigan

Verbos Irregulares SerIrDarEstarSaberHaber YoSeaVayaDéEstéSepaHaya TúSeasVayasDesEstésSepasHayas Él, Ella, Usted SeaVayaDéEstéSepaHaya NosotrosSeamosVayamo s DemosEstemosSepamo s Hayamos VosotrosSeáisVayáisDeisEstéisSepáisHayáis Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes SeanVayanDenEsténSepanhayan Verbs that don’t end in o in the yo form are irregular. SIDES

Verbos Irregulares Jugar (u-ue) Pensar (e-ie) Entender (e-ie) Pedir (e-i) Dormir (o-ue) YoJueguePienseEntiendaPidaDuerma TúJueguesPiensesEntiendasPidasDuermas Él, Ella, Usted JueguePienseEntiendaPidaDuerma NosotrosJuguemosPensemosEntendamasPidamosDurmamos VosotrosJuguéisPenséisEntendáisPidáisDurmáis Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes JueguenPiensenEntiendanPidanDuerman *Stem changing ar and er verbs in the present tense also change in the same forms of the subjunctive. The verbs have stem changes in all forms except nosotros and vosotros. *Verbs that end in ir change in all forms of the subjunctive.

3 Parts are needed to form the Subjunctive: The subjunctive is needed when we have a verb or expression from one of the UCAWEIRDO categories. All three parts of the following formula are present: 1) Subject #1 w/ indicative (Select one of the UWEIRDO verbs) 2) Que (This is the conjunction necessary to introduce the subjunctive clause) 3) Subject #2 w/ subjunctive (The person or thing in the UWEIRDO world)

UCAWEIRDO: U - unknown C- conjunctions A- adverbs * W- wishes, wants, hopes, desires E- emotions I- impersonal expressions R- recommendations, suggestions, prohibitions D- doubt, uncertainty O- ojalá

Unknown claves: Buscar- to look for Querer- to want Necesitar- to need (No) Hay… que- There is (No) Conoces… que- (Do) You know (No) Tienes… que- (Do) You have

Unknown ejemplos: Quiero una computadora portátil que no cueste mucho. I want a laptop computer that does not cost much. ¿ Tienes un teléfono que toque música? Do you have a phone that plays music? No conozco a nadie que publique poesía. I do not know anyone who publishes poetry.

Unknown… Ojo To talk about things that definitely do exist, use the indicative. Hay un sitio web que tiene la información. There is a Web site that has the information.

Conjunctions claves: A fin de que- in order that A menos que- unless Antes (de) que- before Con tal (de) que- as long as En caso (de) que- in case that Para que- in order that Sin que- without

Conjunctions ejemplos: No gastes tus ahorros a menos que sea necesario. Don’t spend your savings unless it’s necessary. Voy a imprimir las fotos para que todos las miren. I’m going to print the photos so that everyone can look at them.

Conjunctions…Ojo NOTE that when the conjunctions are used without QUE, the verb that follows must be the infinitive form. Tendrás que comer antes de que salgas. You’ll have to eat before you leave. Tendrás que comer antes de salir. You’ll have to eat before leaving.

Adverb …claves HD Acronymn Hasta (que)- until Después de (que)- after De modo (que)- in such a way that De manera (que)- in such a way that Ex: Ellos van a trabajar hasta que el jefe les mandan salir. (They will work until the boss tells them to leave.)

Más Adverbs CAMELoT-----Acronym Cuando- when Aunque- although Mientras- while En cuanto- as soon as Luego que- as soon as o Tan pronto como- as soon as Ex:Te llamaré en cuanto (tan pronto como, luego que) llegue al hotel. (I will call you as soon as I arrive at the hotel.)

Adverbs ESCAPA A En caso de (que)- in case Sin (que)- without (that) Con tal (que)- provided that, so that Antes de (que)- before Para (que)- in order that, so that A menos (que)- unless A fines de (que)- so that Ex: No podemos sacar buenas notas sin que el maestro nos ayude. (We can’t get good grades unless the teacher helps us.)

Wishes, Wants, Hopes, Desires…claves Desear- to desire, or to wish Esperar- to hope Querer- to want Ella quiere que su hijo se comporte bien. She wants her son to behave well. Use the INFINITIVE and omit QUE if there is not a change in the subject. El niño quiere comportarse bien.

Emotions: …claves Alegrarse (de)- to be happy Encantar- to love Enojarse- to be mad Es una lástima- it’s a shame Es sorprendente- it’s surprising Es triste- it’s sad Estar contento(a)- to be content Estar emocionado(a)- to be excited

Más Emotions: Estar triste- to be sad Gustar- to like Sorprenderse (de)- to be surprised Sentir- to be sorry, to feel Temer- to fear Tener celos de- to be jealous Tener miedo de- to be afraid

Emotions…ejemplos: Nos alegramos de que tú actúes con honor. We’re happy that you act honorably. No me sorprendo de que sea difícil. I’m not surprised that it’s difficult. Me gusta que podamos elegir. I like that we can choose. Temo que no me entiendas. I’m afraid that you don’t understand me.

Impersonal Expressions…claves: Es importante- it’s important Es bueno- it’s good Es necesario- it’s necessary Es raro- it’s rare Es imprescindible- it’s indispensible Es difícil- it’s difficult Es fácil- it’s easy Es imposible- it’s impossible Es interesante- it’s interesting Es malo- it’s bad Es mejor- it’s better Es posible- it’s possible

Impersonal Expressions…ejemplos: Es importante que él salga. It is important that he leave. Es imprescindible que tú hables claramente. It is indispensible that you speak clearly. Es raro que un músico critique su música. It is rare that a musician critique his music. Es necesario que él proteja a los ciudadanos

Recommendations, Suggestions, Prohibitions…claves: Aconsejar- to advise Dejar- to allow Exigir- to demand Insisitr (en)- to insist Mandar- to order, command Pedir- to ask Prohibir- to prohibit Recomendar- to recommend Sugerir- to suggest Ejemplo: Sugiero que llegues temprano. I suggest that you arrive early

Doubt, Uncertainty Dudar- to doubt Es dudososo- It’s doubtful Es imposible- It’s impossible Es improbable- It’s probable No es cierto- It is not certain No es verdad- It is not true No estar de acuerdo con- To not agree with No estar seguro (a) de- To not be sure

Doubt, Uncertainty Ejemplo y Ojo: Marta no está segura de que tengamos tiempo para ver la película. Marta is not sure that we will have time to see the movie. NOTE that the word NO can change the meaning of the expression and affect whether you need to use the subjunctive or indicative form of the second verb. Dudamos que Jorge conozca al músico. We doubt that Jorge knows the musician. No dudamos que él tiene talento. We do not doubt that he has talent.

Ojalá… only one clave Ojalá expresses hope It has only one form and cannot be conjugated It can be used with or with out que It is always used with the subjunctive Ejemplo: Ojalá no llueva mañana. I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. Ojalá que tengamos tiempo. I hope that we’ll have time.