Present Subjunctive For Intermediate learners

What is the Present Subjunctive?

The present subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo) expresses actions or states that are uncertain, desired, hypothetical, emotional, or dependent on another event.

Structure

To form a present subjunctive verb, start from the first-person singular (yo) form of the present indicative and remove the final -o to get the present subjunctive stem. Keep in mind that the subjunctive stem of many verbs is the same as the indicative stem, but irregular verbs and those that undergo spelling changes (for example, hacer, tener, poner, venir, decir, etc.) have different stems in the subjunctive.

hablar → hablo (first-person singular present indicative) → habl- (present subjunctive stem)

hacer → hago (first-person singular present indicative) → hag- (present subjunctive stem)

After obtaining the present subjunctive stem, you can conjugate the verb based on the subject. The table below shows the present subjunctive ending of verbs based on the subject and the infinitive ending:

	-ar verbs	-er/-ir verbs
yo	-e	-a
tú	-es	-as
él / ella / usted	-e	-a
nosotros/as	-emos	-amos
vosotros/as	-éis	-áis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	-en	-an

For example:

Hablar → hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen

Hacer → haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan

Irregular Verbs

Six verbs have completely irregular conjugations in the present subjunctive:

ser → se-

ir → vay-

saber → sep-

haber → hay-

estar → est-

dar → d-

Stem-changing Verbs

Some verbs undergo fairly predictable changes in their subjunctive stem before taking the present subjunctive ending:

In some verbs that end in -ar or -er, the "e" in the last syllable changes to "ie" and "o" changes to "ue" for all subjects except nosotros/vosotros which use the infinitive stem. For example, "pensar" becomes "piens-", "querer" becomes "quier-", and "vovler" becomes "vuelv-"

Some verbs that end in -ir follow the same rules as -ar and -er verbs; however, in their nosotros/vosotros form, "e" changes to "i" and "o" changes to "u". For example, "sentir" becomes "sint-" for nosotros/vosotros and "sient-" for all other subjects; and "dormir" becomes "durm-" for nosotros/vosotros and "duerm-" for all other subjects.

Some -ir verbs change the "e" in their final syllable to "i" and this change is applied to all subjects. For example, the present subjunctive stem of "pedir" becomes "pid-".

Uses

The present subjunctive form of the verb is used:

After verbs or expressions of desire or suggestion, such as querer, esperar, desear, aconsejar, recomender, necesario, ojalá, etc.

Example

Quiero que estudies más.

I want you to study more.

Nos recomienda que lleguemos temprano.

She recommends that we arrive early.

After verbs or expressions of emotion or evaluation, such as alegrarse, temer, lamentar, interesante, contento, importante, etc.

Example

Me alegra que estés aquí.

I'm glad you're here.

Temo que no llegue a tiempo.

I'm afraid he won't arrive on time.

After verbs or expressions of doubt or denial, such as dudar, negar, no creer, no pensar, improbable, etc.

Example

Dudo que lo haga.

I doubt he'll do it.

No creo que sea verdad.

I don't think it's true.

In relative clauses where the antecedent is indefinite or nonexistent

Example

Busco a alguien que hable japonés.

I'm looking for someone who speaks Japanese.

No hay nadie que pueda ayudarme.

There's no one who can help me.

After certain subordinating conjunctions of time, purpose, or condition, such as antes de que, hasta que, cuando, para que, a fin de que, a menos que, con tal que, sin que, etc.

Example

Te lo explico para que entiendas.

I'm explaining it to you so that you understand.

No salgas sin que te llame.

Don't go out unless I call you.

Te llamaré cuando llegue.

I'll call you when I arrive.

Warning!

As you can see in the examples above, the subjunctive is always used in the dependent clause (typically introduced by "que" or a subordinating conjunction) of complex sentences where the subjects of the main clause and the dependent clause are different. If the subjects of the two clauses are the same, we use the infinitive form of the verb rather than the subjunctive. Compare the sets of examples: