The Spanish subjunctive, made simple

Fact or not?

Spanish has two moods. The indicative states facts. The subjunctive covers everything that is not a plain fact: wishes, feelings, doubts, requests and things that have not happened yet.

Ask one question of the verb: is the speaker stating a fact, or not?

The pattern: que and a new person

Most subjunctive sentences have the same shape: a trigger, then que, then a second part with a different person. The verb after que goes into the subjunctive.

Same person in both parts? Drop que and use the infinitive: Quiero ir (I want to go), not Quiero que vaya.

Making it: regular verbs

Take the yo form of the present: hablo, como, vivo. Drop the -o: habl-, com-, viv-.

Add the "opposite" endings: -ar verbs take e endings, -er and -ir verbs take a endings.

hablar: hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen. comer: coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis, coman. vivir: viva, vivas, viva, vivamos, viváis, vivan.

W for wishes

Wishes and will are the first trigger: querer que, esperar que, preferir que, desear que.

They all want something that is not a fact yet, so the verb after que goes into the subjunctive.

Ojalá and everyday wishes

Ojalá means "let's hope" or "if only". It always takes the subjunctive and needs no que (you can add it: ojalá que).

Spaniards wish each other things all day with que and the subjunctive: Que aproveche, Que te vaya bien, Que lo pases bien.

The yo-form trick

Start from the yo form of the present and irregular stems come along for free: tengo → tenga, digo → diga, hago → haga, conozco → conozca.

Stem-changing verbs change the same way as in the present: quiero → quiera, puedo → pueda, but nosotros and vosotros keep the plain stem (queramos, podáis). -ir verbs like dormir and pedir also change there: durmamos, pidamos.

DISHES and spelling

Six verbs break the yo-form pattern. DISHES: dar dé, ir vaya, ser sea, haber haya, estar esté, saber sepa.

Spelling shifts keep the sound of the stem: buscar → busque, llegar → llegue, empezar → empiece, pagar → pague, sacar → saque.

E for emotions

Feelings about something take the subjunctive: alegrarse de que, me gusta que, me encanta que, me molesta que, siento que, temo que, me da miedo que.

You are not stating the fact, you are reacting to it.

I for impersonal expressions

Es + an opinion word + que takes the subjunctive: es importante que, es necesario que, es posible que, es mejor que, es raro que, es una pena que.

The trap: es verdad que, es cierto que, es obvio que and está claro que state a fact, so they take the indicative.

R for recommendations and requests

Asking, advising and telling someone to do something: recomendar que, sugerir que, pedir que, aconsejar que, insistir en que, decir que (as an order).

Watch decir: Dice que viene (he says he is coming, a fact) but Dice que vengas (he says you should come, an order).

D for doubt and denial, and the certainty trap

Doubting or denying takes the subjunctive: dudar que, no creer que, no pensar que, negar que, no es verdad que.

The trap: believing states something as true. Creo que, pienso que and no dudo que take the indicative. Creo que llueve, but no creo que llueva.

Cuando and the future

Time words (cuando, en cuanto, hasta que, después de que, mientras) take the subjunctive when the event has not happened yet.

For habits and the past, the same words take the indicative. Never use the future after cuando: cuando llegues, not cuando llegarás.

Para que and friends: always subjunctive

A handful of linking words always take the subjunctive: para que (so that), antes de que (before), sin que (without), a menos que (unless), con tal de que (as long as), en caso de que (in case).

Same person? Use the infinitive instead: Lo hago para aprender, but Lo hago para que aprendas.

Aunque: even though or even if

With the indicative, aunque means "even though": you know it is true.

With the subjunctive, aunque means "even if": it may happen, or it does not matter.

Things you have not found yet

When que describes something you are looking for, or that may not exist, the verb goes into the subjunctive.

When it describes something real that you know, it stays in the indicative. No hay nadie que and ¿Hay alguien que...? take the subjunctive.

Making the imperfect subjunctive

Take the ellos form of the simple past: hablaron, tuvieron, fueron. Drop -ron: habla-, tuvie-, fue-.

Add -ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran (nosotros takes an accent: habláramos). The -se forms (hablase, tuviese) mean the same and are common in Spain too.

Past triggers

When the trigger is in a past tense, the verb after que moves into the imperfect subjunctive: Quiero que vengas becomes Quería que vinieras.

All the WEIRDO triggers work the same way in the past: Me pidió que..., Era importante que..., No creía que..., Me alegró que...

Me gustaría que

A trigger in the conditional also takes the imperfect subjunctive: Me gustaría que vinieras, Preferiría que no lo dijeras, Sería mejor que nos fuéramos.

Si tuviera: the unreal if

For unlikely or impossible situations: si + imperfect subjunctive, then the conditional. Si tuviera dinero, viajaría.

For a real possibility, si keeps the present indicative, never the present subjunctive: Si llueve, no salgo.

Como si: as if

Como si (as if) always takes the imperfect subjunctive, whatever the tense around it.

Put it all together

One question for every verb after que: is the speaker stating a fact or not? Fact or belief: indicative. Wish, feeling, opinion, request, doubt, not yet, unknown: subjunctive. Same person: infinitive. Past or conditional trigger, unlikely si, como si: imperfect subjunctive.