Present subjunctive forms
Type the missing word in each sentence. You hear each sentence read by a native voice.
No queremos que nos (separar).
We don't want to be separated.
The rule
In English, when you want someone else to do something, you rebuild the sentence. “He talks to her” becomes “I want him to talk to her”. Spanish keeps the sentence as it is, with “that he” in the middle, and changes the verb ending instead. “Habla con ella” means “he talks to her”. “Quiero que hable con ella” means “I want him to talk to her”. The only change is the last letter, “-a” to “-e”, and that one letter tells the listener you are describing a wish, not a fact.
This form of the verb is called the present subjunctive. This lesson shows you how to make it for any verb. The next lesson is about when to choose it.
You already use it
You have made these forms before. In the commands lessons you learned polite requests: “Hable más despacio” means “Speak more slowly”, “Pase” means “Come in”, and “No hables tan rápido” means “Don't speak so fast”. You also saw that in these forms the vowel of the ending swaps: “habla” becomes “hable”.
Spanish uses the same forms far beyond commands: for what you want, hope, doubt or feel about something. “Espero que hables con ella” means “I hope you talk to her”. The verb is the same “hables” as in the command, doing a new job.
Swap the vowel
Take a verb you know in the present: “hablar”, “to speak”. “Hablas” means “you speak”. For the subjunctive, replace the “a” of the ending with “e”: “hables”. Every “-ar” verb does the same: “hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan” become “hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen”.
“-er” and “-ir” verbs go the other way. “Comes” means “you eat”. Replace the “e” with “a”: “comas”. “Vives” means “you live”, and the subjunctive is “vivas”.
So the rule has two halves. An “-ar” verb takes endings with “e”. An “-er” or “-ir” verb takes endings with “a”. The person endings you know stay the same: “-s” for “tú”, “-mos” for “nosotros”, “-n” for “ellos”.
| Who? | “hablar”: speak | “comer”: eat | “vivir”: live |
|---|---|---|---|
| I: “yo” | “hable” | “coma” | “viva” |
| you: “tú” | “hables” | “comas” | “vivas” |
| he, she, formal you: “él”, “ella”, “usted” | “hable” | “coma” | “viva” |
| we: “nosotros”, “nosotras” | “hablemos” | “comamos” | “vivamos” |
| you all in Spain: “vosotros”, “vosotras” | “habléis” | “comáis” | “viváis” |
| they, you all: “ellos”, “ellas”, “ustedes” | “hablen” | “coman” | “vivan” |
Notice that the “yo” form and the “él” form are the same. The sentence around them says who you mean.
Start from “yo”, not from the dictionary
Many verbs have a “yo” form with an extra letter or sound. “Tener” gives “tengo”, “hacer” gives “hago”, “conocer” gives “conozco”. That extra piece stays in every subjunctive form. So the safe way to build the form is to start from the present “yo” form, drop its “-o”, and add the swapped endings.
“Tengo” loses its “-o”, leaving “teng-”. Add the endings with “a”, because “tener” is an “-er” verb: “tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan”. The same steps give “hago” to “haga”, “digo” to “diga”, “pongo” to “ponga”, “salgo” to “salga” and “conozco” to “conozca”.
If you built from the dictionary form instead, you would get “tena” and “haca”, which do not exist. Starting from “yo” gets these right every time.
Six common verbs do not follow the steps at all. Learn their forms as words: “ser” gives “sea”, “ir” gives “vaya”, “haber” gives “haya”, “saber” gives “sepa”, “dar” gives “dé” and “estar” gives “esté”. Their other persons add the usual “-s”, “-mos” and “-n”: “seas, seamos, sean”.
The forms in use
A friend, Marta, is coming to visit. You tell her what you want: “Quiero que vengas a las ocho”, “I want you to come at eight”. “Que” means “that”, and the verb after it, “vengas”, is the subjunctive of “venir”, built from “vengo”.
The weather looks bad, so you hope: “Ojalá no llueva”, “I hope it doesn't rain”. “Ojalá” means “I hope”, and the verb after it is always subjunctive.
She arrives, and you tell her how you feel: “Me alegra que estés aquí”, “I'm glad you're here”. You are not reporting that she is here; you are reacting to it, so the verb changes.
In each sentence a wish, a hope or a feeling comes first, then “que”, then the verb with the swapped ending. The full list of what calls for the form, and the cases where it does not, is the next lesson.
Examples
- Quiero que vengas a las ocho.I want you to come at eight.
- Cuando llegues, llámame.When you arrive, call me.
- Ojalá no llueva.I hope it doesn't rain.
- Me alegra que estés aquí.I'm glad you're here.
- Es importante que estudies hoy.It's important that you study today.
- Dudo que tengan tiempo.I doubt they have time.
- Te lo explico para que lo entiendas.I'm explaining it so that you understand.
- Hable con el encargado, por favor.Speak to the manager, please.
Watch out
- Quiero que vienes. Quiero que vengas.After “quiero que”, the second verb takes the subjunctive, built from “vengo”.
- Quiero que tenas tiempo. Quiero que tengas tiempo.Start from the “yo” form “tengo”, so the “g” stays.
- Espero que estás bien. Espero que estés bien.“Estar” is one of the six verbs to learn as words: “esté, estés”.
- Ojalá puedo ir. Ojalá pueda ir.After “ojalá”, always use the subjunctive.
- Cuando llegas mañana, llámame. Cuando llegues mañana, llámame.When “cuando” points to something that has not happened yet, use the subjunctive.
What to take into practice
Start from the present “yo” form. Drop the “-o”. Add the endings with the other vowel: “e” for an “-ar” verb, “a” for an “-er” or “-ir” verb. Six verbs have their own forms: “sea, vaya, haya, sepa, dé, esté”.
The practice starts with polite requests like “Hable con ella” and “No cierres la puerta”, which you already know, and then moves to wishes and hopes with “que”.