Subjunctive

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Subjuntivo

The Spanish subjunctive is a special verb form, called a mood, that is used in dependent clauses to indicate some sort of subjectivity, uncertainty, or unreality in the mind of the speaker. In Spanish, feelings like doubt and desire require the subjunctive, as do expressions of necessity, possibility, and judgment. It can be helpful to consider them in themed groups:

1. Preferences, Advice, Needs, Desires, Orders
2. Judgments, Emotions, Feelings
3. Possibilities, Opinions, Doubts, Suppositions
4. Additional Subjunctive Triggers

  Note that there are two additional conditions to meet before using the Spanish subjunctive:

1) Que
The dependent clauses is introduced by the relative pronoun que (that).

Quiero que tu lo hagas.		I want you do it.
No es cierto que yo venga.		It’s not certain that I will come (am coming).

2) Two subjects
The subjects of the dependent and main clauses are usually different. If the subjects are the same, the infinitive can be used instead of the subjunctive.

Quiero que vayas al museo.		I want you to go to the museum.
Quiero ir al museo.		I want to go to the museum.
Quiero que yo vaya al museo.

There are hundreds of verbs, expressions, and conjunctions that call for the subjunctive, so it’s helpful to divide them into themes.

Preferences, Advice, Needs, Desires, Orders (PANDO)

aconsejar que		to advise
decir (a alguien) que		to tell (someone to do something)
dejar que		to let, allow
desear que		to desire that
es hora que		it’s time that
es importante que		it is important that
es necesario que		it is necessary that
es preciso que		it is necessary that
evitar que		to avoid
exigir que		to demand that
hacer falta que		to be necessary that
hacer que		to make, force
impedir que		to prevent
insistir en que		to insist that
invitar que		to invite
mandar que		to order
necesitar que		to need
pedir (a alguien) que		to ask (someone to do something)
permitir que		to permit
preferir que		to prefer that
prohibir que		to forbid
proponer que		to propose that
querer que		to want that
recomendar que		to recommend
rogar que		to request, beg
sugerir que		to suggest that

Judgments, Emotions, Feelings (JEF)

alegrarse de que		to be happy that
es bueno que		it’s good that
es conveniente que		it’s convenient that
es difícil que		it’s hard
es extraño que		it’s strange that
es fácil que		it’s easy
es increíble que		it’s incredible that
es interesante		it’s interesting that
es inútil que		it’s useless that (there’s no point)
es justo que		it’s fair that
es (una) lástima que		it’s a pity that
es malo que		it’s ( too) bad that
es mejor que		it’s better that
es peor que		it’s worse that
es preferible que		it’s preferable that
es raro que		it’s strange that
es triste que		it’s sad that
es útil que		it’s useful that
esperar que		to hope that
estar contento que		to be happy that
estar triste que		to be sad that
extrañarse que		to be amazed that
gustarse que		to like
más vale que		it’s better that
sentir que		to regret, be sorry that
sorprenderse que		to be surprised that
temer que		to fear that
tener miedo que		to be afraid that

Possibilities, Opinions, Doubts, Suppositions (PODS)

aparecer que		to appear, seem that
buscar … que*		to look for
detestar que		to hate
dudar que		to doubt
es dudoso que		it is doubtful that
es imposible que		it is impossible that
es improbable que		it is improbable that
es posible que		it is possible that
es probable que		it is probable that
negar que		to deny
no es cierto que		it is not certain that
no es claro que		it’s not clear that
no es evidente que		it is not obvious that
no es obvio que		it is not obvious that
no es que		it’s not that
no es seguro que		it is not certain that
no es verdad que		it is not true that
no estar seguro de que		to not be certain than

* Whether to use the subjunctive with buscar depends on whether you know the person or thing exists – learn more.

Additional Spanish Subjunctive Triggers

• Adjective clauses
• Conjunctions
• Negation and interrogation
• Si clauses
• Using the Spanish subjunctive – PwLF super list

 More Spanish Subjunctive

Conjugations

• Regular verbs
• Irregular verbs

Usage

• Introduction to the Spanish subjunctive
• The Sujunctivisor!

Spanish Subjunctive Tenses

• Present
• Present Perfect
• Imperfect
• Pluperfect
• Future
   

 Spanish Lesson Plans

• A Comprehensive Look at the Subjunctive (Worksheet, 11th to higher ed)
• El Modo Subjunctivo (PPT, 7th – higher ed)
• Practica: Subjunctive in Relative Clauses (Worksheet, 10th-11th grade)
• Subjunctive Conjugations (Lesson, 6th-12th grade)
• Subjunctive in Relative Clauses (Worksheet, 9th-11th grade)
   

 En français

• Subjonctif
   

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