“El alma del español”

Drop the “o” from the present tense “yo” form

• hablar: hablo = habl • tener: tengo = teng• ver: veo = ve• comer: como = com

Add the subjunctive ending

-ar• e• es• e• emos• éis• en

- er, -ir• a• as• a• amos• áis• an

• hablar: hable, hables, hable,hablemos, habléis, hablen

• tener: tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan

• ver: vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean• comer: coma, comas, coma, comamos,

comáis, coman

Use the yo form for those verbs that are irregular only in the yo form. This does not apply to those that end in -oy

• tener: tengo - tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan

• ver: veo - vea, veas, vea, veamos, veais, vean• hacer: hago – haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis,

hagan • conocer: conozco – conozca, conozcas, conozca,

conozcamos, conozcáis, conozcan• oír: oigo – oiga, oigas, oiga, oigamos, oigáis, oigan

Stem changing verbs that end in –ar, and -er use the yo form of the present in all

forms except the nosotros and the vosotros.

• pensar (ie): pienso - piense, pienses, piense, pensemos, penséis, piensen

• volver (ue): vuelvo - vuelva, vuelvas, vuelva, volvamos, volváis, vuelvan

• querer (ie): quiero – quiera, quieras, quiera, queramos, queráis, quieran

Stem changing verbs that end in –ir have the same changes as in the present. The unstressed e changes

to i and the unstressed o changes to u in the nosotros and vosotros form.

• sentir: siento – sienta, sientas, sienta, sintamos, sintáis, sientan

• dormir: duermo – duerma, duermas, duerma, durmamos, durmáis, duerman

• reír: río – ría, rías, ría,riamos, riáis, rían

Special endings

• -car: the c changes to qu– buscar: busque, busques, busque, busquemos,

busquéis, busquen

• -gar: the g changes to gu– llegar: llegue, llegues, llegue, lleguemos, lleguéis,

lleguen

• -zar: the z changes to c– gozar: goce, goces, goce, gocemos, gocéis, gocen

continued

• -gir: the g changes to j– dirigir: dirija, dirijas, dirija, dirijamos, dirijáis,

dirijan• -ger: the g changes to j

– coger: coja, cojas, coja, cojamos, cojáis, cojan• -guir: the gu changes to g

– distinguir: distinga, distingas, distinga, distingamos, distingáis, distingan

Irregular verbs in the subjunctive

• dar– dé, des, dé, demos, deis,

den• haber

– haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan

• ir– vaya, vayas, vaya,

vayamos, vayáis, vayan

• estar– esté, estés,esté,

estemos, estéis, estén• saber

– sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan

• ser– sea, seas, sea, seamos,

seáis, sean

Present Subjunctive

• The subjunctive mood (there are four subjunctive tenses) can be reduced to seven subheadings:– desire– ignorance– impersonal opinion– uncompleted action– vague or indefinite antecedent– maybe/perhaps– “even if”

• At the root of every subjunctive sentence, there is always some aspect not known or not controllable.

Sentences that are not subjunctive are indicative, and do what the name implies: they indicate or report something.

I know that you speak Spanish. (indicative) I hope that you speak Spanish. (subjunctive)

The first sentence is the indicative. The speaker is certain of something (that you speak Spanish) and is reporting that information.

The second clause of the second sentence is in the subjunctive. The speaker does not know that you speak Spanish, but has a desire that you do.

In sentences where there is a subjunctive clause, often there is also an indicative clause which reports desire, ignorance, or an impersonal opinion.

Using the present subjunctive

• You will use the subjunctive when there is a degree of desire, ignorance, or impersonal opinion on the part of the subject.

• There are two parts of the sentence containing a subjunctive clause: (1) the main clause and (2) the subordinate clause.

• These two are generally separated by que, which translates into that.

The main clause contains the statement of desire, ignorance or opinion: this is in the indicative.

The subordinate clause contains that which is being considered: this is in the subjunctive.I doubt that he works muchhe works much.

Main clause: I doubt Subordinate clauseSubordinate clause: he works much

Translation: Yo dudo que él trabaje muchoél trabaje mucho.

Subjunctive vs indicative in noun clauses

• Recomendamos que limpien la playa hoy.• Sabemos que limpian la playa hoy.• Dicen que el aparato está dañado.• Temen que el aparato esté dañado.

N

When the speaker does not identify a specific subject in the dependent clause, the impersonal expression is followed by

an infinitive.

Es preciso saber la fecha.It’s necessary to know the date.

Es preciso que sepamos la fecha.It’s necessary that we know the date.

El político quiere destruir la evidencia.The politician wants to destroy the evidence.

El político quiere que destruyamos la evidencia.The politician wants us to destroy the evidence.

When there is no doubt about an action or an event, use the indicative in the noun clause to convey certainty or

conviction.

• Estoy seguro de que la planta purifica el agua.– I am sure that the plant purifies the water.

• Creo que el rio está contaminado. – I believe that the river is contaminated.

• Es evidente que la limpieza ha ayudado bastante.– It’s evident that the clean up has helped quite a

lot.

When the expression of certainty or conviction is negated (expressing ignorance or doubt) in the main clause, the

subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause.

• No creo que haya menos contaminación hoy que ayer. – I don’t think there is less contamination today

than yesterday.

• No creo que Juan tenga el dinero.– I don’t think that John has the money.

Práctica

• He wants me to write a letter. Él quiere que (yo) escriba una carta.

• I hope that she speaks with me tomorrow. Espero que ella hable conmigo mañana.• They want us to do it. Ellos quieren que lo hagamos.• He requests that we be there at nine o’clock. Él pide que estemos allí a las nueve.• I prefer that we not leave the house until five

o’clock. Prefiero que no salgamos de la casa hasta las

cinco.

• I’m not sure that you can read this. No estoy seguro/a que (tú) puedas leer esto.

• It’s necessary that you turn off the lights.Es necesario que (tú) apagues las luces

• It’s impossible that you (inf.) will be able to predict the future.

Es imposible que (tú) puedas predecir el futuro.

• It’s incredible that he built that house. Es increible que él haya construido esa casa.

• It may be that the eight-hour workday will disappear.

Puede ser que el jornado laboral de ocho horas desaparezca.

• Do you want me to count the money? ¿Quieres que cuente el dinero?

• I doubt that she eats in that restaurant. Dudo que ella coma en ese restaurante.

• They don’t believe that he plays the piano. Ellos no creen que él toque el piano.

• We don’t think that the Patriots will win the game. No pensamos que los Patriotas ganen el partido.

• She isn’t sure that we always tell the truth. Ella no está segura que siempre digamos la verdad.