SUBJUNTIVO

One of the most confusing aspects of Spanish is the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive is very essential to
Spanish, and even many simple types of statements cannot be made properly without it.

In general, the subjunctive is a verb mood that is used to express an action or state of being in the context of the
speaker's reaction to it. Mostly (although not always), the subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses
introduced by que (which, that, who) when the main clause expresses a wish, a strong emotional attitude, or an
uncertainty. Frequently, the sentences that contain a subjunctive verb are used to express doubt, uncertainty,
denial, desire/wish, commands, reactions or a strong emotional attitude to the clause containing the
subjunctive verb.

Compare the following two sentences:

Indicative: Mara duerme. (Mara is sleeping)
Subjunctive:
o Wish= Espero que Mara duerma. (I hope that Mara is sleeping),
o Desire= Te ruego que duermas (I beg you to go to bed).
o Doubt= Dudo que duerma (I doubt that she is sleeping).

Another example:
Indicative (statement of fact): S que Mara duerme. (I know that Maria is sleeping)
Subjunctive
o Doubt: No es cierto que Mara duerma. (It is uncertain that Mara is sleeping.)
o Denial: No es verdad que Mara duerma. (It is not true that Maria is sleeping)
o Reaction: Estoy feliz que Mara duerma. (I am happy that Mara is sleeping)
o Wish: Espero que Mara duerma (I hope that Maria is sleeping)
o Desire/wish: Prefiero que Mara duerma (I prefer that Maria is sleeping).

The subjunctive is also used for formal commands: Tenga Ud eso! (Have this!) For the negative of informal
commands: No duermas! (dont sleep) For hortatory commands: Durmamos! (Let's sleep!). And after
impressional expressions: es necesario que/ insisto que Mara duerma... (I insist that Maria is sleeping).

The subjunctive has four tenses: present subjunctive, present perfect subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive,
and past perfect (or pluperfect) subjunctive. Which form to use depends on two factors: the tense of the verb
in the main clause & the time relationship between the verb in the dependent clause and the subjunctive verb.

Spanish Subjunctive (Present Tense)

Regular verb ending with ar = e verb ending with er = a verb ending with -ir = iera
yo hable venda escriba
t hables vendas escribas
l, Ud hable venda escriba
nosotros hablemos vendamos escribamos
ellos, Uds hablen vendan escriban
Irregular Estar / jugar ar = e Ser / saber er = a Ir / mentir -ir = iera
yo est - juegue sea - sepa vaya - mienta
t ests - juegues seas - sepas vayas - mientas
l, Ud est - juegue sea - sepa vaya mienta
nosotros estemos - juguemos seamos - sepamos vayamos - mintamos
ellos, Uds estn - jueguen sean - sepan vayan - mientan
Note that some other irregular verbs have different irregularities not listed in the table above.

The Imperfect subjunctive is formed by adding a set of endings terminating in either -ra or -se (with no
difference in usage or meaning) to the verb stem, with one set of endings for first conjugation (-ar) verbs and
another set of endings for second (-er) and third (-ir) conjugation verbs, and is used in the same type of
situations in which the present subjunctive is used, except that the governing verb is typically in a past
tense (e.g., the preterit, imperfect, past perfect, conditional, conditional perfect, or one of the past
subjunctives): Esperaba que l dormiera (or dormiese) pronto (I was expecting him to sleep soon).

Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive

Regular verb ending with ar = ara verb ending with er = iera verb ending with -ir = iera
yo hablara vendiera escribiera
t hablaras vendieras escribieras
l, Ud hablara vendiera escribiera
nosotros hablramos vendiramos escribiramos
ellos, Uds hablaran vendieran escribiera

The perfect subjunctive is a compound tense formed by the present subjunctive of haber and the past participle
of the main verb. And is normally used to indicate the action as completed with governing verbs in the present
or future tense or command forms. Examples: Me alegro de que l haya llegado (Im glad he has arrived):

Spanish Perfect Subjunctive

Regular All verb (-ar, -er, -ir)
yo haya hablado
t hayas + comido He has spoken/eaten/lived
l, Ud haya vivido
nosotros hayamos
ellos, Uds hayan

The Pluperfect subjunctive is a compound tense formed by the imperfect subjunctive of haber and the past
participle of the main verb. Similar to the past perfect indicative, this tense is may be used to indicate an
action or state that occurred prior to something in the past (usually expressed by the imperfect or preterit
indicative, or by the past subjunctive): Dudbamos que hubieran dormido (We doubted that they had slept).

Spanish Pluperfect Subjunctive

yo hubiera
t hubieras hablado
l/ella/usted hubiera comido I had spoken/eaten/lived
nosotros/vosotras hubiramos vivido
vosotros/vosotras hubierais
ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieran
The following is a list of clauses commonly associated with the use of the Spanish subjunctive (about 80
expressions):
Subjunctive in Spanish
a menos que (unless)
aconsejar(le) que (to advise that)
alegrarse de que (to be happy that)
antes (de) que (before)
con tal (de) que (so that)
conviene que (it is advisable that)
cuando (when)
dar(le) miedo de que (to be afraid that)
decir(le) que (to tell someone to do something!)
dejar que (to allow someone to do something)
despus (de) que (after)
dudar que (to doubt that)
en caso de que (in case)
en cuanto (as soon as)
es (una) lstima que (it's a pity that)
es aconsejable que (it's advisable that)
es bueno que (it's good that)
es difcil que (it's difficult for)
es dudoso que (it is doubtful that)
es fcil que (it's easy for)
es fantstico que (it's fantastic that)
es importante que (it's important that)
es improbable que (it's unlikely that)
es incierto que (it's uncertain that)
es increble que (it's incredible that)
es malo que (it's bad that)
es mejor que (it's better that)
es menester que (it's necessary that)
es necesario que (it's necessary that)
es posible que (it's possible that)
es preciso que (it's necessary that)
es preferible que (it's preferable that)
es probable que (it's probable that)
es raro que (it's rare that)
es ridculo que (it's ridiculous that)
es terrible que (it's terrible that)
esperar que (to hope/hope that)
estar contento que(to be happy that)
estar en contra de que (to be against)
Subjunctive practice (along with many other grammar exercises): http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php
gustar que (to like that)
gustara que (would like that)
hace falta que (to be necessary that)
hasta que (until)
importar(le) que (to matter)
insistir en que (to insist that)
mandar que (to order that)
ms vale que (it's better that)
mientras que (while)
molestar(le) que (to bother)
negar que (to deny that)
no creer que (not to believe that)
no es cierto que (it's not certain that)
no es verdad que (it's not true that)
no estar convencido de que (not be convinced that)
no estar de acuerdo con (to not agree with)
no estar seguro de que (to not be sure that)
no imaginarse que (to not imagine that)
no parecer que (to not seem that)
no pensar que (to not think that)
no suponer que (to not suppose that)
ojal que (if only he would)
para que (in order that)
parecer(le) bien/mal que (to seem right/wrong that)
pedir(le) que (to ask someone to do something!)
perdonar que (to ask forgiveness for)
preferir que (to prefer that)
prohibir que (to prohibit that)
puede ser que (it may be that)
querer que (imperative: to want that)
recomendar(le) que (to recommend that)
rogar que (to plead/ beg that)
sentir que (to regret that)
sin que (without)
sugerir que (to suggest that)
tan pronto como (as soon as)
temer que (to fear that)
tener miedo de que (to be afraid that)
vale/merece la pena que (to be worthwhile to)