Learn Spanish Grammar: Intro to the Subjunctive Mood

You’ve learned about how to conjugate verbs in Spanish, and have a basic command of the language. Next up? Understanding the subjunctive mood! Read on as tutor Jason N. explains…

 

As you’re learning Spanish, it’s a smart idea to keep track of your progress. Your teacher or tutor can help you with this; if you’re learning on your own, try testing your Spanish here.

So, what’s next once you can communicate the basics comfortably and confidently? Advanced students who want to take their knowledge beyond basic communication can now begin learning about the Spanish subjunctive, usually taught in the third, fourth, or fifth year in schools or universities. To speak Spanish well, knowing when to use Spanish subjunctive is indispensable.

Why the Subjunctive is Important to Learn

• It’s ubiquitous in the language.
• Using it makes you sound like you really know how to speak Spanish competently.
• It enables you to tune into and express beautiful subtleties of the language that aren’t so clear or simply don’t exist in English.
• It allows you to express your point or opinion with more specificity.
• It has been referred to as a key indicator that distinguishes a fluent speaker who merely “gets by” learning the language from one who speaks it well.
• You cannot speak as proficiently as native Spanish speakers without learning it.

So, What is the Spanish Subjunctive?

Although it’s commonly referred to as the subjunctive tense in Spanish, it’s actually more of a mood, which acts as a category of tenses. You’ll know when to use Spanish subjunctive when you’re trying to imply an uncertainty about a given situation (more on this below).

Conjugating Subjunctive in Spanish

Conjugating the subjunctive is similar to forming formal commands in Spanish. The steps are outlined below:

Additional Examples

To clarify and provide a reference point, let’s compare subjunctive verbs Spanish conjugation to present indicative (normal) verb conjugation. Here are some key examples:

hablar (to talk)

vivir (to live)

Here’s another example with the slightly irregular verb llegar, meaning ‘to arrive.’ Here the a turns into ue, instead of just e. (See my previous post on Spanish stem-changing verbs to clarify this.)

llegar (to arrive)

When to Use the Present Subjunctive

Llegar will be the example used throughout the following 10 key contexts for using the present subjunctive tense Spanish.

Context #1: When the subordinate clause has elements that express doubt or negation

• Es difícil que lleguen a tiempo. (It’s hard for them to arrive on time.)
• No creo que lleguen a tiempo. (I don’t think they’ll arrive on time.)
• Dudo que lleguen a tiempo. (I doubt they’ll arrive on time.)

Context #2: When the subordinate clause has elements that express desire, fear, judgment, or other emotions/feelings

• Ojalá/espero que lleguen a tiempo. (I hope they arrive on time.)
• Temo que lleguen a tiempo. (I’m scared they will arrive on time.)
• Es triste que lleguen a tiempo. (It’s sad they arrive on time.)
• Estoy feliz de que lleguen a tiempo. (I’m happy they arrive on time.)
• ¡Qué bueno que lleguen a tiempo! (It’s good they arrive on time!)
• Quisiera que llegaran a tiempo. (I would like them to arrive on time.)
• Es raro/extraño que lleguen a tiempo. (It’s odd they arrive on time.)

Context #3: When the subordinate clause has elements that express possibility