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Lesson 3: Conjugating the Subjunctive (Present Tense)

The Subjunctive Mood

We generally call it a mood or a manner of expression. In Spanish, there are 3 moods that encompass the entire language: The indicative, the imperative and the subjunctive. You’ve already learned the indicative mood, though you may not have realized what is was when you were learning it.  The present tense is in the indicative (I eat past / Yo como pasta). As is the future tense (I am going to eat pasta / Yo voy a comer pasta (or comerí pasta). The indicative is all those tenses you first learned when you learned Spanish: the present tense, the past tense, the future, the conditional etc.

The imperative is a much smaller lesson, which simply includes the conjugations you use when you are giving commands (see lesson #20) .

But now, we’re in the subjunctive.  It is similar to the indicative, in that there are several different tenses that can be used as part of the subjunctive mood, but it’s a whole new conjugation.

Look at the following chart below outlining the verb to be.
We are not going to go through all these and learn them.  We just want you to see the bigger picture – where you are at in your Spanish-language learning journey.

The subjunctive mood has all the same tenses as the indicative (present, past, future, conditional etc.

Insert chart conjugation images to understand

The Indicative
The Imperative
The Subjunctive
Express objective facts
Give Commands
Express feeling doubts
(tú) vives
(tú) ¡vivas!
(tú) vivas
Vives in españa
¡Vivas en españa! Es bonita.
Dudo que vivas en españa. No vives en Francia?

There are 3 rules in general about forming the subjunctive

1. Use the opposite vowel (e/i ->a) and (a ->e/i)
2. An irregular yo form is used for the root
3. Irregulars are still irregular

As with everything, we want to be efficient and practical and that’s about learning the subjunctive to.  First, memorize the present and past subjunctive of the most popular 10 verbs …

AR vs ER vs IR

The other thing to memorize is, for most regular verbs, there are two changes you need to consider to conjugate the subjuncitve.

First, change the vowel to it’s opposite, which means AR verbs turn to ER, and ER and IR verbs, turn to AR.

 

 AR Verbs (regular)

Endings of regular ar verbs, when normally end in a will now end in e

 

Yo

Él, Ella Ud.

Nosotros

Vosotros

Ellos, Ellas, Uds.

COMPRAR (Indicative)

compro

compras

compra

compramos

compráis

compran

COMPRAR (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren

 ER Verbs (regular)

Endings of regular ar verbs, when normally end in a will now end in e

 

Yo

Él, Ella Ud.

Nosotros

Vosotros

Ellos, Ellas, Uds.

COMPRAR (Indicative)

compro

compras

compra

compramos

compráis

compran

COMPRAR (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren

Irregular Verbs

Rember verbs like tener, venir have a very irregular yo for – tengo, vengo. When constructing the subjunctive, we use the yo for throughout, so now you will see tengas, tenga …

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 Irregular (yo form)

Endings of regular ar verbs, when normally end in a will now end in e

 

Yo

Él, Ella Ud.

Nosotros

Vosotros

Ellos, Ellas, Uds.

COMPRAR (Indicative)

compro

compras

compra

compramos

compráis

compran

COMPRAR (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren

 Irregular (other)

Endings of regular ar verbs, when normally end in a will now end in e

 Irregular (other)

Endings of regular ar verbs, when normally end in a will now end in e

 

Yo

Él, Ella Ud.

Nosotros

Vosotros

Ellos, Ellas, Uds.

ESTAR (Indicative)

compro

compras

compra

compramos

compráis

compran

SER (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren

IR

 (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren

Memorize by heart these verbs first

estar
ser
ir
tener
venir
poder

 Irregular (ser and ir the same in future conjugation)

Endings of regular ar verbs, when normally end in a will now end in e

 

Yo

Él, Ella Ud.

Nosotros

Vosotros

Ellos, Ellas, Uds.

ESTAR (Indicative)

compro

compras

compra

compramos

compráis

compran

SER (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren

IR

 (Subjunctive)

compre

compres

compre

compremos

compréis

compren