Present Subjunctive: Formation
Present Subjunctive: Formation
English barely has a subjunctive left ('I suggest that he go', not 'goes') — it's a fading, easy-to-miss corner of the language. Spanish uses it constantly, with its own full set of forms.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
The 'opposite vowel' rule you already met in formal commands
hablar → hable, hables, hable...; comer → coma, comas, coma... — -ar verbs take -e endings, -er/-ir verbs take -a endings
no equivalent — English's rare subjunctive doesn't add a new ending, it just drops the usual -s
You've actually already learned this formation rule — it's exactly how usted/ustedes commands were built. Take the yo form of the present tense, drop the -o, and add the 'opposite' vowel family of endings. If you can form a formal command, you can already form most of the present subjunctive.
The subjunctive is a mood, not a tense
quiero que vengas (I want you to come) — vengas describes something not-yet-real, from the main clause's point of view
I want you to come — the plain infinitive, no separate form
Where tense marks when something happens, mood marks how real or certain it is — the subjunctive is Spanish's way of flagging that the second half of a sentence is a wish, doubt, emotion, or requirement rather than a stated fact. This lesson is just the formation; the next lessons cover exactly which situations trigger it.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- that I/he/she speak
- English
- that you speak
- English
- that I/he/she eat
- English
- that you come
- English
- that I/he/she be
- English
- that I/he/she be (location)
- English
- that I/he/she go
- English
- that I/he/she have
- English
- that
- English
- I want that