The subjunctive mood in Spanish adds depth to your language skills. It's used to express uncertainty, emotions, and hypothetical situations. This mood is crucial for conveying nuanced meanings and mastering more complex sentence structures.
Learning the subjunctive builds on your existing knowledge of verb conjugations and tenses. It's a key step in advancing your Spanish proficiency, allowing you to express yourself more precisely and authentically in various contexts.
Subjunctive mood usage
Expressing uncertainty or subjectivity
- Express actions or states that are subjective or uncertain, such as a wish, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or action that has not yet occurred
- Often used in dependent clauses following que, introduced by verbs or expressions of emotion, doubt, denial, desire, or volition
- Common expressions that trigger the subjunctive include dudar que (to doubt that), es posible que (it's possible that), es necesario que (it's necessary that), and querer que (to want that)
- Employed in certain idiomatic expressions, such as Que tengas un buen día (Have a good day) or Que aproveche (Bon appetit)
Adverbial and adjective clauses
- Utilized in adverbial clauses after certain conjunctions, such as antes de que (before), para que (so that), sin que (without), and a menos que (unless)
- Example: Llegaré antes de que empiece la película (I will arrive before the movie starts)
- Used in adjective clauses following nonexistent or indefinite antecedents
- Example: Busco un apartamento que tenga dos dormitorios (I'm looking for an apartment that has two bedrooms)
Present subjunctive conjugation
Regular verb conjugation
- For regular -ar verbs, take the yo form of the present indicative, drop the -o ending, and add the opposite endings of -er and -ir verbs in the present subjunctive: -e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en
- For regular -er and -ir verbs, take the yo form of the present indicative, drop the -o ending, and add the endings: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an
Irregular verb conjugation
- Many common verbs have irregular present subjunctive conjugations, such as ser (sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean), estar (esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén), ir (vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan), and saber (sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan)
- Stem-changing -ar and -er verbs (pensar, querer) have a stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros, while stem-changing -ir verbs (sentir, dormir) have a stem change in all forms
- Verbs with irregular yo forms in the present indicative (hacer, tener, poner) have irregular yo forms in the present subjunctive as well
Subjunctive mood in sentences
Noun clauses
- Frequently used in noun clauses following expressions of doubt or denial
- Example: No creo que él sepa la respuesta (I don't think he knows the answer)
- Example: Dudo que ella pueda venir (I doubt she can come)
- Employed in noun clauses following expressions of desire or volition
- Example: Quiero que me digas la verdad (I want you to tell me the truth)
- Example: Espero que tengas un buen viaje (I hope you have a good trip)
Adverbial and conditional clauses
- Utilized in adverbial clauses expressing purpose or goal
- Example: Estudio mucho para que mis padres estén orgullosos de mí (I study hard so that my parents are proud of me)
- Used in conditional sentences referring to hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations
- Example: Si tuviera más tiempo, iría de vacaciones (If I had more time, I would go on vacation)
Relative clauses
- Employed in relative clauses following nonexistent or indefinite antecedents
- Example: Busco una secretaria que hable inglés y español (I'm looking for a secretary who speaks English and Spanish)