El Presente Subjuntivo!

¡El Presente Subjuntivo!

¡Qué suerte! You’re teacher has just informed you that you will be spending the next two months working on the present subjunctive mode. Not only will you learn the formation (¡Qué divertido!), but the uses as well. Forming and using the subjunctive mode is a game. ¡Que se lo pasen bien!

La Formación

A. Los Verbos Regulares B. Los Verbos de -go C. Los Verbos Irregulares

D. Los Verbos de Cambio Radical E. Los Verbos de –car, -gar, -zar

F. Los Verbos que terminan en –cer, -cir G. Los Verbos que terminan en –ger, -gir H. Los Verbos que terminan en –uir I. Los Verbos de –guir

J. Los Verbos Especiales de –ir K. Las Excepciones

Las Reglas

In order to form the present subjunctive, you must be familiar with the present indicative. You are all in either Spanish 10, 10H and 11, so the indicative is a piece of “bizcocho”, ¿¡¿Verdad?!? We’ll start with regular verbs and move on to more

Los Verbos Regulares

Take a verb, any verb…-ar, -er, or –ir and put it in the yo form. Let’s start with an –ar verb:

The yo form of cocinar is cocino

We remove the “o” from the verb and add the opposite ending. When I mean

opposite endings, I am basically referring to the endings of an –er verb. The following are the endings for an –ar verb in the present subjunctive.

-ar

-e -emos -es -éis

-e -en

So, the verb chart for cocinar in the present subjunctive would be: cocinar

cocine cocinemos cocines cocinéis cocine cocinen

Now let’s continue with –er and –ir verbs. Fortunately for you they share the same endings in the present subjunctive.

-

er y –ir

Los Verbos de –go

Fácil, ¿verdad? Now let’s move on to the –go verbs. Although these verbs are irregular in the present indicative, they are not in the subjunctive. Why? Because in forming the present subjunctive you are going to follow the same steps as a regular verb. Go to the yo form of the verb, take off the “o”, and add the opposite endings. Ejemplos:

Tener: We go to the yo form of the indicative which is “tengo”, we remove the “o” and add the opposite endings. Since “tener” is an –er verb, the endings we would add are: -a, -as, -as, -amos, -áis, -an.

tener

tenga tengamos tengas tengáis tenga tengan

The other –go verbs which would follow this rule are the following: decir – diga, digas, diga, digamos, digáis, digan

poner – ponga, pongas, ponga, pongamos, pongáis, pongan salir – salga, salgas, salga, salgamos, salgáis, salgan

hacer – haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan

venir – venga, vengas, venga, vengamos, vengáis, vengan caer – caiga, caigas, caiga, caigamos, caigáis, caigan traer – traiga, traigas, traiga, traigamos, traigáis, traigan oír – oiga, oigas, oiga, oigamos, oigáis, oigan

Los Verbos Irregulares

The following are irregular verbs. “How am I going to learn them?” you say to yourself. MEMORIZE! Sorry, I have no shortcut to offer.

ser estar haber

sea seamos esté estemos haya hayamos seas seáis estés estéis hayas hayáis sea sean esté estén haya hayan

ir ver dar

vaya vayamos vea veamos dé demos vayas vayáis veas veáis des deis vaya vayan vea vean dé den

saber sepa sepamos sepas sepáis sepa sepan

Los Verbos de Cambio Radical

As you all know (You do all know, right?), there are three types of stem-changing verbs: e-ie, o-ue, and e-i. We’ll go over them separately.

e-ie

cerrar, perder, pensar, mentir, empezar, comenzar, despertarse, recomendar

These verbs are boot verbs in the present subjunctive as well as the present indicative. We follow the same rules in forming the verb. Go to the yo form, take off the “o”, add the opposite ending, etc.

cerrar

cierre cerremos cierres cerréis cierre cierren o-ue

mostrar, contar, poder, morder, encontrar, volver, costar, acordarse, acostarse, almorzar

Like the e-ie verbs, these are boot verbs as well. So how do we put these verbs in the present subjunctive? You know by now: go to the yo form, take of the “o”, and add the opposite ending. You got it!

mostrar

muestre mostremos muestres mostréis muestre muestren

e-i

pedir, servir, seguir, medir, despedirse, elegir, repetir, vestirse

These verbs are a little different from the e-ie and o-ue verbs as they are not boot verbs. Yes, we do change the stem, but the change is made throughout the verb.

pedir

pida pidamos pidas pidáis pida pidan

Los Verbos de –car, -gar, -zar

Remember the preterite tense? Of course you do! -car

buscar, sacar, explicar, pescar, practicar, criticar, tocar, marcar

For a –car verb, what do you change the “c” to? You said “qu”, right? buscar

busque busquemos busques busquéis busque busquen -gar

pegar, pagar, jugar, llegar, despegar, apagar, entregar, castigar Of course you remember by now that the “g” changes to “gu”.

llegar llegue lleguemos llegues lleguéis llegue lleguen

empezar, comenzar, cruzar, aterrizar, rezar, almorzar, gozar

Yes, you are correct! The “z” does in fact change to a “c”. You know a lot!

Keep in mind that some verbs like empezar and comenzar are –za stem-changing! empezar

empiece empecemos empieces empecéis empiece empiecen

Los Verbos de –cer y –cir

-cer

conocer, reconocer, obedecer, ofrecer, agradecer, aparecer, crecer, desaparecer, merecer, nacer, parecer, pertenecer, reconocer, torcer

-cir

traducir, producir, conducir, reducir

What characterizes the –cer and –cir verbs is the –zc. Again, the opposite ending is added.

conocer traducir

conozca conozcamos traduzca traduzcamos conozcas conozcáis traduzcas traduzcáis conozca conozcan traduzca traduzcan

Los Verbos de –ger y –gir

-ger

coger, escoger, recoger, proteger -gir

elegir, fingir, sugerir, corregir, dirigir, exigir

As we want to maintain the soft “g” sound of these verbs, we change the “g” to “j” and add the opposite ending. Don’t forget that some of the –gir verbs are stem-changing as well. This is fun, isn’t it?

recoger elegir

recoja recojamos elija elijamos recojas recojáis elijas elijáis recoja recojan elija elijan

Los Verbos de –guir

seguir, conseguir, distinguir, perseguir

The verbs that end in –guir look scarier than they really are. All you do is drop the -uir and add the opposite endings. Don’t forget to keep in mind that seguir and verbs like it are e-i verbs.

seguir siga sigamos sigas sigáis siga sigan

Los Verbos de –uir

construir, destruir, distribuir, contribuir, incluir, huir, sustituir, influir

These verbs are fun! You are going to add a “y” and then the opposite ending. construir

construya construyamos construyas construyáis construya construyan

Los Verbos Especiales de –ir

The following –ir verbs are special because of their nosotros form. sentirse

me sienta nos sintamos te sientas os sintáis se sienta se sientan preferir prefiera prefiramos prefieras prefiráis prefiera prefieran divertirse

me divierta nos divirtamos te diviertas os divirtáis se divierta se diviertan dormir duerma durmamos duermas durmáis duerma duerman morir muera muramos mueras muráis muera mueran

Las Excepciones

You are not done yet! Fortunately for you there are only two new verbs to learn. enviar envíe enviemos envíes enviéis envíe envíen continuar continúe continuemos continúes continuéis continúe continúen

Los Usos del Presente Subjuntivo

So did you enjoy learning how to form the presente subjuntivo? Using it is even more exciting. ¡Manos a la obra!

There are two things you must keep in mind in order to determine when you will use the present subjunctive. Always ask yourself these two questions:

1. Is the first verb a WEIRDO verb?

2. Are there two subjects?

If the answer is YES to both the questions, you will put the second verb in the present subjunctive. If the answer is NO to any one of these questions, the second verb will NOT go in the subjunctive.

So what do I mean by a WEIRDO verb anyway? A WEIRDO verb is any verb which fits into the following categories.

Wish; Want

Emotion and “Es” expressions

Imposition of Will (SPREAD)

R

Doubt; Denial

Ojalá

Do you see where WEIRDO comes from now?

Back to the requirement of two subjects. The two subjects appear in their own clauses and are separated by a “que.”

So what are the WEIRDO verbs?

Wish; Want

Quiero que tú vengas a mi fiesta. Ask yourself the two questions.

1. Is querer a WEIRDO verb? Yes it is!

2. Are there two subjects? Yes there are: yo and tú

So will I use the subjunctive? Yes. As you can see, the second subject (in the second clause) is in the subjunctive.

Más ejemplos:

Ella desea que Uds. le escuchen. Nosotros esperamos ir.

So why is there no use of the subjunctive in the last example. 1. Esperar is a WEIRDO verb.

2. But are there 2 subjects? No there are not, therefore we do not use the subjunctive.

Emotion

There are two different types of Emotion verbs: regular and special verbs with indirect object pronouns.

Regular Emotion Verbs

There is nothing special about these verbs (other than the tact that they all express emotion.) tener miedo de temer alegrarse de que sentir lamentar enfadarse enojarse

estar triste, enfadado(a), contento(a), cualquier adjetivo de emoción Ejemplos:

Tenemos miedo de que el perro muerda.

Why do we use the subjunctive? Let’s ask ourselves the 2 questions. 1. Is tener miedo de a WEIRDO verb? Yes it is.

2. Are there two subjects? Yes there are: nosotros y el perro Más ejemplos:

Estás contento que el niño ya no esté enfermo. Ellos se enfadan que yo no tenga tarea.

Special Verbs with Indirect Object Pronouns

These verbs take the 3rd _{person singular form and are accompanied by indirect object} pronouns.

sorprende Indirect Object Pronouns preocupa importa me nos fastidia te os enfurece le les enfada enoja molesta Ejemplos:

Me sorprende que él hable italiano. Nos fastidia que Uds. no hagan nada.

Le enfurece a Paloma que su papá no le dé permiso. ¿Te importa que yo no vaya?

“Es” expressions

“Es” expressions are often referred to as Impersonal Expressions. Pretty much any adjective accompanied by “Es” comprises an “Es” expression.

There are many “Es” expressions, but here are some of the most common: Es bueno Es malo Es importante Es necesario Es posible Es probable Es interesante Es lógico Es fantástico Es estupendo Es horroroso Es dudoso Es imposible Es ridículo Es preciso Es una lástima Es triste Ejemplos:

Es importante que vayamos a la reunion. Es ridículo que Uds. no trabajen más. Es triste que el niño no tenga comida.

Other than “Es dudoso”, all of these expressions are accompanied by the subjunctive in the negative form as well.

No es probable que Anabel te escuche.

Excepciones:

You will not use the subjunctive when you have the following “Es” expressions. Es verdad

Es cierto Es seguro

Está claro (Yes, I am aware that this is not the verb “ser.”) Es evidente

Es evidente que María no estudia.

Es cierto que Pablo y Carlos son amigos.

Imposition of Will (SPREAD)

We can remember the Imposition of Will through the acronym SPREAD. SPREAD verbs have two things in common:

1. Someone is trying to impose their will on you.

2. They are accompanied by indirect object pronouns which correspond to the verb in the second clause (the second subject.)

So where do we get SPREAD? Sugerir (e-ie); Suplicar Pedir (e-i); Prohibir

Recomendar (e-ie); Rogar (o-ue) Exigir (g-j)

Aconsejar Decir

“Mandar” also falls into this category, however it does not fit into the SPREAD acronym.

The verb “insistir en” belongs her as well, but it is not accompanied by an indirect object pronoun.

Ejemplos:

Patricia me sugiere que yo viaje a España. Yo te pido que me compres un perrito.

Nuestra profesor nos recomienda que estudiemos más. Los padres de Alejandro le exigen que practique el piano. El entrenador les aconseja a los jugadores que no pierdan. El capitán manda que los soldados le sigan.

La enfermera insiste en que el paciente duerma más.

“Decir” is special in that the verb in the second clause can be found in the indicative or the subjunctive. The difference is the context.

Mi tía me dice que ella pone la mesa. Mi tía me dice que yo ponga la mesa.

The difference is that in the first example, my aunt is telling me something (in other words, she is sharing information with me.) In the second example, she is telling me to actually do something. Like all the other SPREAD verbs, she is trying to impose her will on me or influence me in some way.

Doubt and Denial

When the following doubt or denial verbs are in the first clause and there are two subjects, the second verb will take the subjunctive form.

dudar no creer no pensar no hay duda es dudoso Ejemplos:

Dudamos que Silvia entienda lo que pasó Es dudoso que Uds. puedan acompañarnos.

Excepciones: no dudar creer pensar

no es dudoso

When we use these verbs in the first clause, the verbs in the second clause do NOT take the subjunctive.

Pensamos que ella es muy simpatico. Creo que Manuel conduce bien.

Ojalá

We’ve saved the easiest for last. Ojalá is always followed by the subjunctive. You can either use Ojalá or Ojalá que. Ojalá expresses the idea of, “I really hope, if only, God grant, etc.” Ojalá is stronger than Espero que.

Ejemplos:

Ojalá mi papá me compre un coche. Ojalá que nosotros aprobemos el examen.