The Present Subjunctive El Subjuntivo

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The Present SubjunctiveEl Subjuntivo

• In this presentation, we are going to look at a
  verb form that has all but disappeared from
  English the subjunctive!

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A few examples

• I want you to give me more time.
• Tom would like us to arrive early.
• I order you to stop!
• In these three examples, one person is trying to
  get another person to perform an action.

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I want you to give me more time.

• One person (I) wants another person (you) to do
  something (give more time).
• However, there is no guarantee that you will give
  me more time just because I want you to.

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Tom would like us to arrive early.

• Likewise, one person (Tom) wants someone else
  (us) to do something (arrive early).
• There is no guarantee that we will do so just
  because Tom would like that.

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I order you to stop!

• This sentence is more forceful one person (I) is
  telling another person (you) to do something
  (stop).
• Again, we dont know if you will stop despite the
  admonition.

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The subjunctive

• In Spanish, we use a special verb form to show
  that the completion of these actions give,
  arrive, stop may or may not occur. This form
  is called the subjunctive (like the word
  subjective influenced by opinions).

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Examples in Spanish

• I want you to give me more time.
• Quiero que me des más tiempo.
• Tom would like us to arrive early.
• Tom quiere que lleguemos temprano.
• I order you to stop.
• Te mando que pares.

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Look familiar?

• des, lleguemos, pares
• dé ? des
• llegue ? lleguemos
• pare ? pares
• These are very similar to the formal command
  forms (including the irregulars, such as dar ?
  dé).
• They merely have added familiar endings, such as
  -mos for nosotros and -s for tú.

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Verb forms

• What about the other subjunctive forms?

dar
llegar
parar
pare
paremos
dé
demos
llegue
lleguemos
des
pares
llegues
paren
lleguen
dé
den
llegue
pare
Are we starting to see a pattern here?
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Hey! Thats not so hard!

• Just build the subjunctive from the usted command
  forms that you remember.
• You do remember them, dont you?

Expect an -a, give it an -e Expect an -e, give it
an -a
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A few examples

• What are the subjunctive forms of the following
  verbs?

hablar
comer
vivir
viva
vivamos
hablemos
hable
coma
comamos
hables
comas
vivas
hablen
coma
viva
vivan
hable
coman
Is this starting to make sense yet?
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Way too easy, eh?
How about some trickier ones?
Example salir

• Remember to start with the yo form, salgo.

salga
salgamos
salgas
salgan
salga
The yo forms that dont end in -o are irregular
in the command form and, consequently, the
subjunctive.
ser
estar
seamos
sea
esté
estemos
seas
estés
sean
estén
sea
esté
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comenzar
pensar
comencemos
comience
piense
pensemos
comiences
pienses
piensen
comience
comiencen
piense
acostarse
entender
me acueste
nos acostemos
entienda
entendamos
entiendas
te acuestes
entiendan
entienda
se acueste
se acuesten

• Remember that stem-changing verbs dont change in
  the nosotros form! The boot verb application
  still applies.

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A few tricky ones
dormir
mentir
duerma
durmamos
mienta
mintamos
duermas
mientas
duerma
duerman
mienta
mientan
morir
sentirse
muera
muramos
me sienta
nos sintamos
mueras
te sientas
mueran
muera
se sienta
se sientan

• o?ue and e?ie stem-changing -ir verbs have a
  change in the nosotros form.

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Now lets put this all together.
Heres one of our original sentences
Tom quiere que lleguemos temprano.

• The sentence structure in Spanish is a bit
  different from that of English. A literal
  translation would be Tom wants that we arrive
  early.

• The word que is used to divide the sentence into
  two halves the expression of wish or desire
  (Tom quiere) and the action that may or may not
  occur (lleguemos).

• The verb in the first half uses the normal
  (indicative) form, while the verb in the second
  half uses the subjunctive.

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Note

• that in the first half of our sentences, the
  subject is always different from the subject in
  the second half
• Quiero que me des más tiempo.
• Tom quiere que lleguemos temprano.
• Te mando que pares.
• The first subject is trying to spur the second
  subject into action. Note also that theres no
  guarantee that the action will ever happen.

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Compare this

• to sentences where there is no change in
  
• subject
• Quiero salir ahora.
• Tom quiere llegar a las 5.
• Me gustaría comer pizza.
• When the subject is the same, there is
  higher probability that the second action will
  take place. English uses the infinitive after
  verbs that express wishes, wants, and desires.

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Practiquemos!
What are the appropriate subjunctive forms of the
verbs in parentheses?
vengas
Quiero que tú _______ venir a las 300 en
punto.
recoja
Papá prefiere que yo ______ recoger a mamá.
recemos
Tú sugieres que nosotros ________ rezar más.

• We use the subjunctive when there is a change in
  subject after certain verbs including those of
  desire and preference. Above are only three of
  many, many more instances when the subjunctive
  would be employed.

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Practiquemos más!
vayamos
Quieres que nosotros ________ ir al super?
te quedes
Quiero que tú _________ quedarse en casa, hija.
We use the subjunctive after different types of
verbs wishes, wants, and orders. Heres
another type hope.
haga
Espero que Lisa _____ hacer bien en su examen.
llueva
Ojalá que no ______ llover el día de graduación.
We use the subjunctive because we arent sure
whether the second action will occur. Will Lisa
do well on her exam? Time will tell. Will it
rain on the day of graduation? I hope it wont.
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Más ejemplos y más práctica
sea
Mi mamá quiere que yo ___ ser doctor, y mi papá
espera que _______ estudiar para ser ingeniero,
pero yo quiero ___ ser actor.
estudie
ser
There is no change in subject in the third
expression (yo quiero), so we dont use the
subjunctive!
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Otro uso
esté
Siento que tu abuela ____ estar enferma.
Espero que __________ mejorarse pronto.
se mejore
Another use of the subjunctive is with verbs of
regret, such as saying Im sorry. This is a
little different from the other uses in that the
second action has actually happened (your
grandmother really is sick), but the subject in
the first half is expressing an opinion and is
therefore influencing the second verb.
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Lets review the uses
Initially, we looked at one basic use of the
subjunctive it is used with verbs that express
desires and wants.
We then saw how the subjunctive is also used with
verbs that express hope and regret.
Are there any others?
Sí, por supuesto!
There are many other uses of the subjunctive.
The rest of this presentation will look at more
of them.
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U. W. E. I. R. D. O.
Heres an acronym to help you organize the major
uses of the subjunctive
Uncertainty
No creo que Laura venga a la fiesta.
No pienso que pueda venir.
Tal vez llegue tarde hoy por el tráfico.
Wishes
Quiero que puedas visitarme para la Navidad.
Emotion
Me alegro que hayas recibido una A en la
clase.
Me enfada que Juan no trabaje en su informe.
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U. W. E. I. R. D. O.
Impersonal expressions
Es ridículo que Gloria sea la presidenta del club
de alemán ella recibió una D- en su clase el
semestre pasado.
Impersonal expressions dont have a human
subject. The subject is an impersonal it.
Some impersonal expressions in Spanish include
es bueno, es malo, es necesario, es difícil, es
imposible, es triste, es importante
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U. W. E. I. R. D. O.
Regret
Lo siento que tu abuela esté enferma.
Lamento que no podamos asistir al culto.
Doubt
Dudo que alguien sea capaz de sacar un 100 en el
examen final de física es un curso muy difícil!
Order
Te mando que pares.
Prohibo que uses apuntes durante el examen.
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WOW!
Thats a lot!!
As you continue your studies in Spanish, you will
be certain to see these uses as well as many
others.