Español 201

Prof.  Castrillejo

Formación del pesente de subjuntivo

 

1.     Introduction: general things about the subjunctive 

  The two main verbal moods in Spanish are the indicative and the subjunctive.

 The indicative mood relates or describes something factual, that is, something that the speaker considers is certain. The indicative mood is thus related to objectivity.

 The subjunctive mood expresses emotions, doubts, judgment, or uncertainty about an action. The subjunctive mood is thus related to subjectivity.

 

Example:

 Mi prima tiene razón cuando dice que su carro es mejor que el mío.
(There is certainty from the point of view of the speaker).

Quizás mi prima tenga razón cuando dice que su carro es mejor que el mío.
(There is uncertainty, doubt from the point of view of the speaker).

 

 Important things to remember about the subjunctive:

 The subjunctive is a verbal mood.

You don’t have to mix up verbal mood and verbal tense. A verbal mood is a way of meaning of the verb. Each verbal mood can have several tenses ( present, imperfect, preterit, future etc..)

 

The subjunctive  mood expresses  is the mood to express  subjectivity and uncertainty.


 

2.     Formation of the present subjunctive

  REGULAR VERBS

  To form the present subjunctive of all regular and most irregular verbs, drop the – o ending of the first-person singular form of the present indicative and add the present subjunctive  endings. Note that the endings of –ar verbs all share the vowel e, whereas the endings of –er and –ir verbs all share the vowel –a.

  

 

-AR VERBS

-ER VERBS

-IR VERBS

 

Cantar

Aprender

Vivir

yo

cante

aprenda

viva

cantes

aprendas

vivas

Ud./ él/ ella

cante

aprenda

viva

nosotros

cantemos

aprendamos

vivamos

Uds./ellos /ellas

canten

aprendan

vivan

         Most verbs that have an irregular stem in the first-person singular form in the present indicative maintain tha same irregularity in all forms of the present subjunctive. ( Verbs like decir, hacer, influir, conocer, tener).

         IRREGULAR VERBS

 

a.     Stem-changing verbs

 Stem-changing –ar and –er  verbs  have the same stem changes in the present subjunctive as in the present indicative. All forms change except nosotros and vosotros.

 

 

-AR VERBS

-ER VERBS

 

e-- ei

 

o--ue

 

Pensar

Volver

yo

piense

vuelva

pienses

vuelvas

Ud./ él/ ella

piense

vuelva

nosotros

pensemos

volvamos

Uds./ellos /ellas

piensen

vuelvan

  

          Stem-changing –ir verbs have the same stem changes as in the present indicative, except the nosotros and vosotros forms have an additional change.

  

 

-IR VERBS

 

e-- ei, i

o—ue,u

e—i,i

 

Mentir

Dormir

Pedir

yo

mienta

duerma

pida

mientas

duermas

pidas

Ud./ él/ ella

mienta

duerma

pida

nosotros

mintamos

durmamos

pidamos

Uds./ellos /ellas

mientan

duerman

pidan

 

  b.     Verbs with spelling changes.

 Some verbs require a spelling change to maintain the pronunciation of the stem.

Verbs  ending in -car, -gar, -guar and -zar have a spelling change in all persons.

 

Spelling change

Infinitive
(example)

Present subjunctive

c--qu

sacar

saque, saques, saque, saquemos, saquen

g--gu

pagar

pague, pagues, pague, paguemos, paguen

u--ü

averiguar

averigüe, averigües, averigüe, averigüemos, avrigüen

z--c

alcanzar

Alcance, alcances, alcance, alcancemos, alcancen

 

c.     Irregular verbs

 The following six verbs are irregular in the present subjunctive. Note  the accent marks on some forms of dar and estar.

 

 

Haber

Ir

Saber

Ser

Dar

Estar

yo

haya

vaya

sepa

sea

esté

hayas

vayas

sepas

seas

des

estés

Ud./ él/ ella

haya

vaya

sepa

sea

esté

nosotros

hayamos

vayamos

sepamos

seamos

demos

estemos

Uds./ellos /ellas

hayan

vayan

sepan

sean

den

estén