El Subjuntivo

All tenses we have studied up until this point are considered el indicativo – the indicative

The indicative tense states facts

The Subjunctive states things that might happen

Quiero que tengan éxito y que ganen mucho dinero

I am hoping that you will be successful and make a lot of money.

Subjunctive implies that you may not necessarily be successful or make a lot of money.

Forming the Subjunctive

Step 1: Conjugate the infinitive to the yo present tense form.

This will be the stem for all forms of the verb in the subjunctive.

Step 2: use the appropriate ending.

In a nutshell, -AR verbs will have present tense –ER/-IR endings, and –ER/-IR verbs will have present tense –AR verb endings

Example

Tener

tenga tengamos

tengas ---

tenga tengan

Exceptions to the rule:

dar estar ir saber ser

dé esté vaya sepa sea

des estés vayas sepas seas

dé esté vaya sepa sea

demos estemos vayamos sepamos seamos

den estén vayan sepan sean

¡Vamos a practicar!

① Sus padres quieren que él ____, ____, ____, ____, y ____. (estudiar, aprender, vivir con ellos, no salir, tener amigos)

② Nuestro profesor quiere que nosotros ___, ____, ____, ____, ____, y ____. (escuchar, hablar, comprender, escribir bien, hacer tarea, ir a la clase)

③ Yo quiero que tú ____, ____, ____, ____, y ____. (llamer, visitar, leer la novela, salir conmigo, saber la verdad)

Formal Commands

In Chapter 9 of Spanish 2, we discussed informal

commands.

These are used with people you know on a first

name basis.

Formal commands are used when: 1) speaking to an

adult or 2) speaking to someone you do not know on

a first name basis.

Forming Formal Commands

To form the formal command, you simply take the Ud. form of the subjunctive.

Prepare la cena

Make dinner

To make the command a negative command, add “no” before the command

No prepare la cena

Don’t make dinner

To make the command plural, use the Uds. form. To make it negative, put the “no” in front of the command

(No) preparen la cena.

¡Vamos a practicar!

① ____ usted la receta. (leer)

② ____ usted las legumbres. (lavar)

③ ____ usted las latas. (abrir)

④ ____ usted las cebollas. (picar)

⑤ ____ usted el agua. (hervir)

⑥ ____ usted el ajo. (añadir)

Negative informal commands

To make your informal commands negative, use the

tú form of the subjunctive and add a “no” in front of it.

Informal affirmative commands – take the él, ella, Ud.

present tense form of the verb

Negative informal – No comes los crayones

Don’t eat the crayons

¡Vamos a practicar!

① ¡Habla!

② ¡Háblame! (HINT: put the pronoun in between the “no” and command)

③ ¡Compra!

④ ¡Cómpralos!

⑤ ¡Vende!

⑥ ¡Véndemelo!