Subjunctive: Irregular Conjugations

Subjuntivo: conjugaciones irregulares

Spanish subjunctive
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Many Spanish verbs are irregular in the subjunctive, though all but dar and estar (see below) use the same subjunctive endings as regular verbs.

Stem-changing verbs

There are three kinds of stem-changing -ir verbs, and they all have their stem change in at least some of their subjunctive conjugations.

1. E IE

  • All singular forms (yo, , él) and third person plural (ellos) maintain the stem change
  • Nosotros and vosotros forms change E in stem to I
SENTIR Present Subjunctive
…que yo siento sienta
…que tú sientes sientas
…que él/ella/Ud.    siente sienta
…que nosotros sentimos sintamos
…que vosotros sentís sintáis
…que ellos/Uds. sienten sientan

2. E I

  • All forms have an I in the stem, whether or not they have it in the present
PEDIR    Present Subjunctive
…que yo pido pida
…que tú pides pidas
…que él/ella/Ud. pide pida
…que nosotros pedimos pidamos
…que vosotros pedís pidáis
…que ellos/Uds. piden pidan

3. O UE

  • All singular forms and third person plural maintain the stem change
  • Nosotros and vosotros forms change the O in the stem to U
DORMIR    Present Subjunctive
…que yo duermo duerma
…que tú duermes duermas
…que él/ella/Ud. duerme duerma
…que nosotros dormimos durmamos
…que vosotros dormís durmáis
…que ellos/Uds. duermen duerman

 Note: Stem-changing –ar and –er verbs are regular in the subjunctive and are thus included in regular subjunctive conjugations.

Irregular first person singular

Most verbs, including all G verbs, which have an irregular first person singular conjugation use that conjugation as the subjunctive stem.

Verb Yo form Subjunctive
caber yo quepo quepa, quepas, quepa, quepamos, quepáis, quepan
caer caigo caiga, caigas, caiga, caigamos, caigáis, caigan
conocer conozco conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos, conozcáis, conozcan
construir construyo construya, construyas, construya, construyamos, construyáis, construyan
decir digo diga, digas, diga, digamos, digáis, digan
distinguir distingo distinga, distingas, distinga, distingamos, distingáis, distingan
elegir elijo elija, elijas, elija, elijamos, elijáis, elijan
hacer hago haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan
oír oigo oiga, oigas, oiga, oigamos, oigáis, oigan
parecer parezco parezca, parezcas, parezca, parezcamos, parezcáis, parezcan
poner pongo ponga, pongas, ponga, pongamos, pongáis, pongan
salir salgo salga, salgas, salga, salgamos, salgáis, salgan
tener tengo tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan
traer traigo traiga, traigas, traiga, traigamos, traigáis, traigan
valer valgo valga, valgas, valga, valgamos, valgáis, valgan
venir vengo venga, vengas, venga, vengamos, vengáis, vengan
ver veo vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean

 Note: Verbs with the same endings (-ger, –gir, –guer, –guir, –uir, etc.) follow the same conjugation patterns.

Irregular stems

The following verbs have irregular subjunctive stems:

Verb Stem Subjunctive
haber hay- haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan 
ir vay- vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan 
saber sep- sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan
ser se- sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean

Irregular stem endings

The following verb groups change the final letter in the stem due to the issue of hard vs soft vowels:

Verbs that end in –car (c –» qu)
buscar busqu- busque, busques, busque, busquemos, busquéis, busquen
  
Verbs that end in –gar (g –» gu)
pagar pagu- pague, pagues, pague, paguemos, paguéis, paguen
  
Verbs that end in –zar (z –» c)
lanzar lanc- lance, lances, lance, lancemos, lancéis, lancen

Two verbs have irregular subjunctive forms due to accents:

Verb Subjunctive
dar dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den
estar esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén

 Subjunctive Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on the Spanish subjunctive with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless Spanish account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

More Spanish Subjunctive

Conjugations

Usage

Spanish Subjunctive Tenses

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Spanish subjunctive

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