Spanish Subjunctive: When and How to Use It

The basic pattern

Typical subjunctive sentences have two clauses joined by que, with a different subject in each: Quiero que vengas. Think of two people: one influences or reacts, and the other acts. Here the speaker wants (main clause) and the other person does something (subordinate clause). If both clauses share one subject, Spanish uses an infinitive: Quiero venir, not Quiero que yo venga.

Forming the present subjunctive

Start from the yo form of the present indicative, remove the -o, and add the opposite vowel. For -ar verbs add -e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. For -er and -ir verbs add -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. Hablar gives hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen. Comer gives coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis, coman. Because you start from the yo form, irregular stems carry over: tengo gives tenga, hago gives haga, salgo gives salga, vengo gives venga. Stem changes carry over too: quiero gives quiera, puedo gives pueda, and pido gives pida.

Watch spelling changes that keep the sound: sacar gives saque, llegar gives llegue, empezar gives empiece.

Irregular verbs

Examples help the forms stick: Espero que seas feliz. Quiero que estés aquí. Es mejor que vayamos juntos. Dudo que sepa la respuesta. Ojalá que haya tiempo. Six verbs do not come from the yo form: ser (sea), estar (esté), ir (vaya), saber (sepa), dar (dé), and haber (haya). Stem-changing verbs keep their change in many forms, so pensar gives piense, and the nosotros and vosotros forms of -ir verbs may change as well (durmamos, durmáis).

The families of triggers

A handy way to remember what calls for the subjunctive is to group the triggers by meaning.

• Wishes and requests: querer que, esperar que, pedir que, preferir que. Example: Espero que tengas un buen día. Verbs of influence such as aconsejar, pedir, and prohibir work the same way: Te aconsejo que descanses.
• Emotions: alegrarse de que, tener miedo de que, sentir que. Example: Me alegra que estés aquí.
• Impersonal expressions of judgment: es importante que, es necesario que, es posible que. Example: Es importante que estudiemos.
• Doubt and denial: dudar que, no creer que, no pensar que. Example: No creo que ella tenga tiempo.
• Certain conjunctions: para que, antes de que, a menos que, sin que, en caso de que.
• Unknown or nonexistent things: Busco un hotel que tenga piscina (any hotel with a pool, which may not exist) versus Conozco un hotel que tiene piscina (a real one). No hay nadie que sepa la respuesta.

Time words and the future

Words like cuando, hasta que, en cuanto, and después de que take the subjunctive when they point to a future event that has not happened yet: Te llamo cuando llegue. For habits and past events, the indicative stays: Siempre llamo cuando llego. Also note that creer que, in the affirmative, takes the indicative: Creo que tiene tiempo. Ojalá always takes the subjunctive; quizás and tal vez take it when the speaker is unsure. Ojalá is special because it needs no que: Ojalá llueva mañana. Other useful expressions are es mejor que, es probable que, and puede que, all with the subjunctive. Note that a lo mejor takes the indicative: A lo mejor viene mañana.

The present subjunctive also supplies formal commands and negative tú commands: Hable más despacio, por favor. No hables tan rápido. No abras la puerta is how you tell a friend not to open it, and No me llames tarde asks someone not to phone you late in the evening. Once you know the forms, you already know these commands.

Imperfect subjunctive preview and common mistakes

Once you are comfortable with the present, add the imperfect subjunctive. Take the ellos form of the preterite, remove -ron, and add -ra, -ras, -ra, -ramos, -rais, -ran. Hablaron gives hablara, hablaras, hablara, habláramos, hablarais, hablaran. It follows past triggers, as in Quería que vinieras, and appears in hypotheses: Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría más.

The conjunction aunque shows how mood changes meaning. Aunque llueve, saldré treats the rain as a fact, while Aunque llueva, saldré treats it as a possibility.

Typical mistakes are easy to spot once you know them. Learners use the subjunctive when both clauses share a subject, use the indicative after es importante que, or switch to the subjunctive after affirmative creer que. Another frequent slip is forgetting the spelling change in forms such as llegue and saque.

For practice, write three wishes, three feelings, and three doubts about your week, each starting with the trigger and que. Then rewrite each one with a different subject. This drill ties each trigger to que and a new subject, which a conjugation chart does not.

Practice set

Write the correct verb form.

1. Quiero que tú (venir) a la fiesta.
2. Es importante que nosotros (estudiar).
3. No creo que ella (tener) tiempo.
4. Creo que ella (tener) tiempo.
5. Voy a llamarte cuando yo (llegar).