The Present Subjunctive in SpanishSpanish has many tenses and other forms for

verbs, but the endings attached to the “stem” are generally short. The Present Subjunctive is one more “form” of the verb. Look at the following

present subjunctive form for all six persons. Which Spanish verb do they correspond to?

hable hablemoshables habléishable hablen

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishRight, the verb “hablar”. Except for the “yo” form, you must recognize the endings! Think of this as a trick! -AR verbs use the endings of –ER verbs! It almost looks like there is a verb

“habler” in Spanish, but there isn’t.

habl -e habl -emoshabl -es habl -éishabl -e habl -en

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishWe’ve already used the tú form hables! Where?

Right, for the negative tú commands! That doesn’t at all mean that this command is a

subjunctive, but we can say that this command uses one of the six “subjunctive forms”.

hable hablemoshables habléishable hablen

The Familiar CommandSo, no hables means “don’t speak”, for

example when being bossy to a gabby friend. (Note that the opposite command, habla is

NOT a subjunctive form.)

hable hablemoshables habléishable hablen

The Formal CommandWell, guess what! The formal command uses

a subjunctive form when you want to shut your professor up, for example:

Profesor, por favor no hable.

hable hablemoshables habléishable hablen

The Formal CommandBut beware, even with the por favor it may come across as an impolite sentence, even though the

command is grammatically “polite”. To make amends, you may want to order the opposite:

Profesor, por favor hable.

hable hablemoshables habléishable hablen

The Formal CommandSo, the third person singular form provides you

with both a positive and a negative command to use, for example with people of authority with

whom you’d probably not expect to give commands anyway. But there are situations, for

example someone may be in danger!

pare paremospares paréis¡Pare! paren

The Formal Command

Remember to place any direct, indirect or reflexive pronouns in their correct place, and put an accent mark whenever the stress of the word

ends up on the third syllable from the end:¡Búsquelo!

¡No lo bailes!¡Lávese!

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishLet’s leave the topic on formal commands on the

“back burner”. Hablemos de esos más tarde. Let’s first understand how to get the Present

Subjunctive forms for any verb. Let’s start with the –AR verbs. (The following conjugation looks

like a prayer:)

ame amemosames améisame amen

The Present Subjunctive in Spanish

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Take the present tense “yo” form you are familiar with and chop off the “o” ending.

habl

The Present Subjunctive in Spanish

Step 2: If we have an –AR verb, then add the familiar present tense endings for –ER verbs. For the new yo form, use the third

person singular (él) form.

hable hablemoshables habléishable hablen

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishLet’s generalize Step 2 to any verb:

Step 2: If we have an –AR verb, then add the familiar present tense endings for –ER verbs. If we don’t have an –AR verb, then

add the –AR endings. For the new yo form, use the third person singular (él) form.

escriba escribamosescribas escribáisescriba escriban

The Present Subjunctive in Spanish

Wow! Looks like there’s a verb escribar in Spanish, but really there isn’t.

escriba escribamosescribas escribáisescriba escriban

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishBecause of this rule, any stem-changes that

occur in the familiar present tense also occur in the present subjunctive…

piense pensemospienses penséispiense piensen

The Present Subjunctive in Spanish…and any verb that has an irregular yo form

in the familiar present tense, has an irregular subjunctive form for all persons.

salga salgamossalgas salgáissalga salgan

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishCareful to make the usual spelling changes that keeps the sound of the last consonant

of the stem intact!

juegue juguemosjuegues juguéisjuegue jueguen

The Present Subjunctive in SpanishNow that we know how to get the

subjunctive forms, let us see how we can use the ellos form for something.

salga salgamossalgas salgáissalga salgan

The Plural Formal CommandIf all the cabinet ministers of the president of some South American democracy invade your

home at night, you may say:¡Salgan de aquí!

salga salgamossalgas salgáissalga salgan

The Present Subjunctive “Form”So, we’ve made use of several of the subjunctive forms WITHOUT using the SUBJUNCTIVE. In the

next presentation, we will be using the SUBJUNCTIVE.

salga salgamossalgas salgáissalga salgan

The Present Subjunctive “Form”What use does the nosotros subjunctive form

have without using it as a SUBJUNCTIVE?¡Salgamos de aquí!

(shouted out by a Minister of Education)

salga salgamossalgas salgáissalga salgan