Nothing in the Spanish language can seem quite as confusing to English speakers as the subjunctive! It’s not surprising, as this is one area of grammar in which English and Spanish are very different. The use of the subjunctive in English is very limited and can often sound arcane or old-fashioned whereas it is a fundamental part of everyday Spanish being used in about 15% of everyday conversation. This is the highest among all modern romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese etc.)

MOST IMPORTANTLY: The subjunctive is not a tense; it is a mood.

A tense expresses when something is occurring ie. present, past, future. The subjunctive is a mood. It shows the probability or likelihood of something occurring.

All verb tenses in Spanish are divided into the indicative or subjunctive mood. (There is a third mood, the imperative, used for commands)

Indicative: that which is known to be fact and true, habitual events

Subjunctive: that which is open to subjectivity, unknown future events.

Common Indicative mood conjugations: present tense, imperfect, preterit, future, present perfect, past perfect

Common Subjunctive mood conjugations: present subjunctive*, imperfect subjunctive, present perfect subjunctive

*Note: About 80% of the use of the subjunctive is in the present tense so that is our focus here.

Overall, there are less subjunctive mood conjugations than indicative. Over the centuries, many subjunctive conjugations have become obsolete or relegated to legal use only.

Now that we have put the subjunctive into context let’s start looking at some specific examples.

Examples of the use of the subjunctive in English:

Long live the King!                                (live replaces lives to show a wish)

Let there be light!                                   (be replaces is show a desire)

He insists the child stay put.               (stay replaces stays for a command)

May she rest in peace.                          (rest replaces rests to show a wish)

If I were you….                                       (were replaces am as it’s not real)

Examples of the subjunctive in Spanish:

As the use of the subjunctive is much more widespread in Spanish it is useful to have an acronym:

C ~ Conjunctions                                    (cuando, para que)

O ~ Ojalá                                                    (also: quizás etc.)

W ~ Wishes/Wants                                 (desear que, querer que)

R ~ Requests/Recommendations   (pedir que, insistir que)

I   ~ Impersonal Expressions            (es posible que, es probable que)

D ~ Doubts/Denial                               (Dudo que, no estoy seguro que)

E ~ Emotions                                           (me alegro que, estoy triste que)

Each category above (COW RIDE) has a long list of verbs or expressions associated with it that must be memorized! The general concept behind the subjunctive is always the same: someone/thing wishes/insists etc. for someone/thing else to behave in a certain way.

Rosa         quiere            que         su novio   trabaje    menos.

El padre   insiste            que         su hijo      estudie     hoy.

El posible                        que          ellos        trabajen    hoy.

Formation of the present subjunctive

Forming the present subjunctive is a two-step process:

-First find the ‘yo’ form of the present indicative: vivo, tengo etc.

-Then, drop the letter ‘o’ and replace it with the ‘opposite vowel.’ That is to say, if your verb is an –ir/-er verb you replace it with an ‘a’ and for –ar verbs you use an ‘e’. Examples:

Final notes:

As the first and third person share the same form, it is more common to see the use of the personal pronouns with the present subjunctive to avoid confusion.

Take heart, as the consistent and correct use of the subjunctive often takes years to develop as a non-native speaker of the Spanish language. The true and natural use of this mood means you have ‘arrived’ as a fluent speaker of the Spanish language.

There are few things in the Spanish language more difficult for English speakers to get a grasp on than the subjunctive. One common fallacy is that students believe the subjunctive is a tense when in fact it is a mood. There are two moods in the Spanish-language: the indicative and subjunctive. The indicative mood is used to describe all that is concrete and habitual whereas the subjunctive describes that which is in any way hypothetical.

To learn to use the subjunctive one must look at the various situations in which it is used. In this blog we will focus on the uses of the subjunctive with verbs of influence, uncertainty, emotion and doubt.

In the sentence, “I hope that my brother prepares sushi,”  we find all the elements necessary to elicit the use of the subjunctive in the secondary clause:

1) one subject in the main clause (I) which is different than that of the secondary clause (my brother)

2) the use of the conjunction ‘que’

3) the use of a verb of influence (hope)

In simpler terms, just because I hope that something happens does not necessarily mean it will and this is reflected in Spanish by the use of the subjunctive mood in the secondary clause.

I hope that my brother prepares sushi.

Yo espero que mi hermano prepare sushi.

Other common verbs of influence:

desear – to desire

querer (e-ie) – to want

preferir (e-ie)  – to prefer

pedir (e-i) – to ask

prohibir – to forbid

persuadir – to persuade

rogar (o-ue) – to beg

aconsejar – to advise

insistir – to insist

exigir – to demand

mandar – to order

recomendar (e-ie) – to recommend

sugerir (e-i) – to suggest

impedir (e-i) – to prevent

Verbs of uncertainty, doubt and emotion are also triggers of the subjunctive.

I doubt Maria is working today.

Yo dudo que María trabaje hoy.

negar (e-ie) – to deny

temer – to fear

alegrarse de – to be happy

The expressions below are followed by the indicative in the affirmative but subjunctive in the negative!

no creer – to not believe

no estar convencido/a de – to not be convinced of

no estar seguro/a de – to not be sure of

no imaginarse – to not believe/imagine

no parecer – to not seem

no pensar (e-ie) – to not think

no suponer – to not suppose