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When do I use the subjunctive mood in Spanish?
I've been learning Spanish for three years now and that mood(tense?) has confused me to no end. I don't even know it's equivalent in English. I mean, I know that I use it in every day speech, but I don't recognize it when I do or even when I'm reading it. Please help if you can.
And can you also list the verb forms if you know them.
Much obliged,
-Drew
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
For most verbs the subjunctive winds up disguised in English (it and the indicative are conjugated the same), unless you phrase things in terms of he/she/it.
Example: "He goes" is expressed in the normal indicative.
She prefers that he goes to lunch at noon. (indicative..she approves of him habitually going to lunch at noon)
She prefers that he go to lunch at noon. (subjunctive..she wishes he would go at noon)
As far as Spanish..yeesh...there are so many more instances where subj. is used, compared to English. I'm sure you know all the rules already since youre in your 3rd year. Personally I try to use the heck out of the subjunctive in my papers (im a spanish major)...just for practice, so I can myself get accustomed to it. Plus it's sort a writing style issue anyway. Maybe you can find an author that uses it a lot. I tend to write phrases like...
"And if the movie Maquilapolis were to serve as a guide, then maquilas are the source of everything bad in Mexico" [were instead of was because its hypothetical]
...or...
"It has to be that way, because it were any other way..." [por si fuera de otro modo...again were instead of was...again hypothetical]
Hope there's something you can glean from this...don't fret...im sure it's in your head already, just waiting to spill out at the opportune moment..
- 1 decade ago
It's used when expressing a wish, desire, doubt, disbelief, denial, etc.
"Quiero que vayas"
"Dudo que haya..."
"Me alegro de que estés bien"
Do NOT use with anything where you believe something IS true, like "Creo que...", "Es cierto que...", etc.
They're formed sorta like present tense but the stem is backwards. Like "esté" instead of "está". Or they end with an "aya", in some cases like ir and haber.
