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Presente de subjuntivo
The present subjunctive
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Descubre 2, unidad 3.3
Living Spanish

1
Nombre: ________________________

Hoy es ___________________________

Presente de subjuntivo / The present subjunctive

Felicitaciones! Finalmente llegaste al subjuntivo. Te sugiero que te

tomes el tiempo de entender el subjuntivo, no slo de estudiarlo.
Vers que ser mucho ms fcil. Buena suerte!
Congratulations! You have finally reached the subjunctive. I suggest that
you take the time to understand the subjunctive, and not only to study it.
You will see it is a lot easier that way. Good luck!

There are three different verb moods in Spanish: the indicative, the

imperative and the subjunctive. Each of them is used to state things differently.

All the verb forms you have been using have been in the indicative mood, like the present
tense, the imperfect and the preterite (you will study more indicative tenses in future units,
such as the perfect tenses, the future and the conditionals). You also studied the imperative
mood, with the commands. Lets now start with the subjunctive! Look at this table to compare
the different moods.
Mood and tense example

Example

Indicative:
Present tense
Preterite tense
Imperfect tense

Yo estudio mucho.
Yo estudi mucho ayer.
Yo estudiaba mucho de nio.

Imperative

Estudia mucho para el exmen.

Writers attitude or intention

Used to state facts and to express
actions or states that the speaker
considers to be real and definite.
Used to make a request or to give
orders.
Used to express the speakers
attitudes toward events, and actions

Subjunctive

Es bueno que estudies mucho.

or states the speaker views as

uncertain or hypothetical.

Living Spanish

It is all about feeling the subjunctive mood. Think about yourself.

Your mood changes too.

There are days when you feel confident, sure about your behavior, you
tend to use the indicative mood. - Viajo hoy.
There are days when you feel demanding, you tend to use the imperative
mood. Viaja ya!
And there are other days when you feel insecure, you doubt, you put
conditions; you wish, dream, hope you then use the subjunctive.
Espero que viajes hoy. Quizs viajemos hoy. No estoy seguro que viaje
hoy. Ojal viaje hoy.
In other words:

INDICATIVE

SUBJUNCTIVE

truthful

unknown

objective

subjective

factual

abstract

This is really going on!

... in somebody's head!

Luis viene pronto.

Living Spanish

Espero que Luis

venga pronto.

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Lets now study how to form it.

Present subjunctive of regular verbs

Pronouns

hablar

comer

escribir

yo

hable

coma

escriba

hables

comas

escribas

l/ella/ud.

hable

coma

escriba

nosotros/as

hablemos

comamos

escribamos

vosotros/as

hablis

comis

escribis

ellos/as, uds.

hablen

coman

escriban

To form the present subjunctive, drop the final o ending of the yo form of the present
indicative, and replace ir with the subjunctive endings:
Infinitive

Present indicative

Verb stem

Present subjunctive

Hablar

hablo

habl

hable

Comer

como

com

coma

Escribir

escribo

escrib

escriba

The present subjunctive endings are:

-ar verbs

-er and -ir verbs

-e

-a

-es

-as

-e

-a

-emos

-amos

-is

-is

-en

-an
Living Spanish

Of course, there are irregular verbs in the present tense of the

subjunctive mood. But you are so use to them by now that it will be
easy to recognize them.

Irregular yo forms verbs: they show the same irregularity in all forms of the present
subjunctive:

Infinitive

Present indicative

Verb stem

Present subjunctive

conducir

conduzco

conduzc

conduzca

conocer

conozco

conozc

conozca

decir

digo

dig

diga

hacer

hago

hag

haga

ofrecer

ofrezco

ofrezc

ofrezca

or

oigo

oig

oiga

parecer

parezco

parezc

parezca

poner

pongo

pong

ponga

tener

tengo

teng

tenga

traducir

traduzco

traduzc

traduzca

traer

traigo

traig

traiga

venir

vengo

veng

venga

ver

veo

ve

vea

Verbs ending in car, -gar, and zar: they have a spelling change in all forms to
maintain the sounds:

Sacar: saque, saques, saque, saquemos, saquis, saquen

Jugar: juegue, juegues, juegue, juguemos, juguis, jueguen
Almorzar: almuerce, almuerces, almuerce, almorcemos, almorcis, almuercen

Living Spanish

5
Present subjunctive of stem-changing verbs:
-ar and er stem changing verbs: they have the same changes as in the present
indicative (with the boot form, that is, no stem changes for nosotros/as and vosotros/as
forms):

pensar (e:ie): piense, pienses, piense, pensemos, pensis, piensen

mostrar (o:ue):muestre, muestres, muestre, mostremos, mostris, muestren

entender (e:ie): entienda, entiendas, entienda, entendamos, entendis, entiendan

volver (o:ue): vuelva, vuelvas, vuelva, volvamos, volvis, vuelvan

-ir stem-changing verbs: they have the same changes as in the present indicative, with a
stem change in the nosotros/as and vosotros/as forms: unstressed e changes to i,
unstressed o changes to u.

pedir (e:i): pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidis, pidan

sentir (e:ie): sienta, sientas, sienta, sintamos, sintis, sientan

dormir (o:ue): duerma, duermas, duerma, durmamos, durmis, duerman

Irregular verbs in the present subjunctive:

These five verbs are irregular in the present subjunctive. Also, the subjunctive form of
hay (there is, there are) is irregular: haya.

dar

Irregular verbs in the present subjunctive

estar
ir
saber
ser

yo

est

vaya

sepa

sea

des

ests

vayas

sepas

seas

l/ella/ud.

est

vaya

sepa

sea

nosotros/as

demos

estemos

vayamos

sepamos

seamos

vosotros/as

deis

estis

vayis

sepis

seis

ellos/as, uds.

den

estn

vayan

sepan

sean

Pronouns

Living Spanish

General uses of the subjunctive

There are three points that will help you determine whether you need to use the subjunctive
mood or not:
The subjunctive is mainly used to express:
1) will and influence
2) emotion
3) doubt, disbelief, and denial
4) indefiniteness and nonexistence
The subjunctive is most often used in sentences with two clauses: a main clause and a
subordinate clause. The main clause contains a verb or expression that triggers the use
of the subjunctive. These two clauses are connected by the conjunction que.

Main clause
in indicative

Connector

que

Subordinate clause
in subjunctive

Es muy importante

que

estudies para el examen.

Es bueno

que

tengas tu habitacin limpia.

Es malo

que

Luis est tan nervioso.

Es necesario

que

la ayudemos a mudarse.

Impersonal expressions: these impersonal expressions are always followed by clauses

in the subjunctive:

Es bueno que

Es mejor que

Es malo que

Es importante que

Es necesario que

Es urgente que

Is good that

Its important that

Is better that

Ists necessary that

Living Spanish

Is bad that

Its urgent that

1. Tu turno: Escribe el presente de subjuntivo de estos verbos/ Write the present

subjunctive of the these verbs:

almorzar, poner, ser

Ustedes

______________, ______________, ______________

cocinar, dormir, ir

Nosotros

______________, ______________, ______________

barrer, hacer, pasear

Yo

______________, ______________, ______________

comprar, viajar, dar

Ella

______________, ______________, ______________

volver, llamar, escribir

______________, ______________, ______________

or, mostrar, jugar

Vosotros

______________, ______________, ______________

lavar, conducir, hablar

Ellos

______________, ______________, ______________

traducir, quitar

Usted

______________, ______________

2. Cmo se dice?/ How do you say?

Traduce estas frases al espaol/
Translate these phrases to Spanish

Its bad that: ____________________________________________

Its necessary that: _______________________________________

Its good that: ___________________________________________

Its important that: _______________________________________

Its better that: __________________________________________

Its urgent that: __________________________________________

Living Spanish

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3. Recomendaciones
Tu amigo/a no tiene mucha energa. Qu le recomiendas? Usa las expresiones
impersonales de esta unidad y verbos en subjuntivo/ Your friend feels he/she has
low energy. What do you recommend him/her to do? Use the impersonal expressions
learned in this unit and verbs in subjunctive.
Ejemplo: Es malo que tomes mucho helado.

1.

5.

2.

6.

3.

7.

4.

8.

1. ____________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________

Living Spanish

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5. ____________________________________________________________________
6. ____________________________________________________________________
7. ____________________________________________________________________
8. ____________________________________________________________________

4. Invitados/ Guests
Tus padres estn limpiando la casa porque hoy vienen unos invitados a cenar. T sugieres la forma
de ayudarlos. Qu te contestan ellos? Utiliza el subjuntivo luego de las expresiones impersonales/
Your parents are cleaning the house because there are guests coming for dinner. You suggest the way to
help them. What do they answer? Use the subjunctive after the impersonal expressions.

Ejemplo: pasar la aspiradora

T: Paso la aspiradora?
Mam/ pap: S, claro. Es necesario que pases la aspiradora.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Limpiar el cuarto de bao

Hacer las camas
Cortar el csped
Lavar las ventanas

5. Poner la mesa
6. Sacudir los muebles
7. Sacar la basura

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Living Spanish

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5. Problemas/Problems
Tu familia dice que t das muy buenos consejos. Qu consejos das para los problemas de tus parientes?
Usa el subjuntivo para tus consejos/ Your family says you are good at giving advice. What do you advise
for each of your relatives problems? Use the subjunctive in your advice.

No dormir bien

Pariente: No duermo bien.

T: Es importante que hagas ms ejercicio.

No tener energa

Pariente: _________________________________

Siempre tener sueo

No poder hacer goles

Necesitar perder peso

No conocer a nadie

Ser/ necesario practicar ms

T: ________________________________________

Pariente: _________________________________

Ser/ importante descansar bastante

T: ________________________________________

Pariente: _________________________________

Ser/ mejor nadar todos los das

T: ________________________________________

Pariente: _________________________________

Ser/ importante hacer ejercicio

Ser/ recomendable ponerse a dieta

T: ________________________________________

Ser/ importante hacerse socio de un

club

Pariente: _________________________________

T: ________________________________________
________________________________________

No saber bailar

Pariente: _________________________________

Ser/ bueno ir a una clase de baile

T: ________________________________________

Living Spanish

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6. Ms consejos/ More advise

Ahora tus amigos quienes te piden consejo. Qu les respondes?/ Now

your friends are asking you for advise. What do you answer them?

Arturo: Voy a comprar mi primer auto. Qu debo tener en cuenta?

___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Martina: No s qu deporte elegir en la escuela.
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Paula: Mi mam me dice que debo ayudar los sbados, pero yo quiero salir con mis amigos.
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Joaqun: No s decidir qu carrera elegir.
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Florencia: No me gusta mucho mi trabajo.
___________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Living Spanish

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Habla con tus compaeros de clase sobre las siguientes
situaciones mundiales. Usa el subjuntivo y las expresiones
impersonales de esta unidad siempre que puedas/ Talk with your
classmates about these world situations. Use the subjunctive and the impersonal expressions

1. Pocas personas hablan

otra lengua

from this unit whenever you are able to.

3. Algunos pases no
practican la democracia

7. Cada ao hay menos

rboles en la selva

5. Las familias
latinoamericanas son
muy unidas
Living Spanish

13

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Living Spanish