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The Present Subjunctive

The first step to using the subjunctive present tense is learning to create the conjugated forms of a verb in the present subjunctive. Because it is a present tense, the present subjunctive is based on the forms of the present tense that you already know. If you know all the irregularities of the indicative present tense, you will find the present subjunctive an easy tense to conjugate.

Creating present subjunctive verb forms

There are three steps you can chant when creating a present subjunctive verb form:

  1. form of yo

  2. drop the - o

  3. add the opposite endings

Of course, chanting the above does no good if you do not understand what it means in application. First of all, you must think of the yo form of the indicative present tense that you already know. For 99.9% of Spanish verbs, you simply drop the - o ending of the yo form and add a present tense subjunctive ending to what is left. (Only a few verbs in the Spanish language have a yo form that doesn't end in - o, and all these are irregular in the present subjunctive. You'll learn those later.) Because the yo form no longer ends in - o, the present subjunctive yo form looks exactly like the él/ella/Ud. form. Use the appropriate subject pronoun to specify the subject. The reason the “chant” says to add the opposite endings is because - er and - ir verbs use - ar verb endings, and you must use the normal - er endings with - ar verbs.

Present subjunctive of - ar verbs

Table 1 , below, will help you understand that the verb endings used for - ar verbs in the present tense subjunctive are like those used for the regular present tense of - er verbs.

TABLE 1 Present Subjunctive Endings for - ar Verbs

Subject

Ending

Subject

Ending

yo

-e

nosotros/nosotras

-emos

tú

-es

vosotros/vosotras

-éis

él

-e

ellos

-en

ella

-e

ellas

-en

usted

-e

ustedes

-en

Look over the present subjunctive conjugations of the regular - ar verb escuchar in Table 2 .

TABLE 2 Present Subjunctive Conjugation Chart for Escuchar (to Listen)

Subject

Verb

Subject

Verb

yo

escuche

nosotros/nosotras

escuchemos

tú

escuches

vosotros/vosotras

escuchéis

él

escuche

ellos

escuchen

ella

escuche

ellas

escuchen

usted

escuche

ustedes

escuchen

Verbs that end in -car, -gar, and -zar

Any verb that ends in - car, -gar, or -zar will use the endings and rules explained above for creating the present subjunctive, but to preserve the correct pronunciation of that letter, it will undergo a spelling change in the letter that precedes the subjunctive ending. You learned about a similar spelling change in the preterit tense that happens for the same reason, but in the preterit, this spelling change affects only the yo form. In the present subjunctive, the spelling change occurs in all forms.

To maintain the hard c sound (like a k), use qu rather than c in all forms of the present subjunctive for any verb whose infinitive form ends in - car.

Table 4 provides the subjunctive forms of common - car verbs. Because the él form is the same as the yo form, it is not listed.

TABLE 4 Common Verbs That End in - car and Their Subjunctive Forms

Infinitive

Subjunctive Endings

aparcar (to park)

aparque, aparques, aparquemos, aparquéis, aparquen

aplicar (to apply)

aplique, apliques, apliquemos, apliquéis, apliquen

buscar (to seek)

busque, busques, busquemos, busquéis, busquen

clarificar (to clarify)

clarifique, clarifiques, clarifiquemos, clarifiquéis, clarifiquen

clasificar (to classify)

clasifique, clasifiques, clasifiquemos, clasifiquéis, clasifiquen

colocar (to place, to put)

coloque, coloques, coloquemos, coloquéis, coloquen

comunicar (to communicate)

comunique, comuniques, comuniquemos, comuniquéis, comuniquen

dedicar (to dedicate)

dedique, dediques, dediquemos, dediquéis, dediquen

destacar (to stand out)

destaque, destaques, destaquemos, destaquéis, destaquen

educar (to educate)

eduque, eduques, eduquemos, eduquéis, eduquen

empacar (to pack)

empaque, empaques, empaquemos, empaquéis, empaquen

explicar (to explain)

explique, expliques, expliquemos, expliquéis, expliquen

fabricar (to make)

fabrique, fabriques, fabriquemos, fabriquéis, fabriquen

indicar (to indicate)

indique, indiques, indiquemos, indiquéis, indiquen

justificar (to justify)

justifique, justifiques, justifiquemos, justifiquéis, justifiquen

marcar (to mark)

marque, marques, marquemos, marquéis, marquen

masticar (to chew)

mastique, mastiques, mastiquemos, mastiquéis, mastiquen

pescar (to fish)

pesque, pesques, pesquemos, pesquéis, pesquen

publicar (to publish)

publique, publiques, publiquemos, publiquéis, publiquen

sacar (to take out)

saque, saques, saquemos, saquéis, saquen

significar (to mean)

signifique, signifiques, signifiquemos, signifiquéis, signifiquen

tocar (to touch)

toque, toques, toquemos, toquéis, toquen

To maintain the hard g sound (like the g in “go”), use gu rather than g in all forms of the present subjunctive for any verb whose infinitive form ends in - gar.

The verbs in Table 6 undergo the g to gu spelling change in all forms of the subjunctive. If the verb is a stem-changer, the change will be apparent in all forms but nosotros/nosotras and vosotros/vosotras. Because the él form is the same as the yo form, it is not listed.

TABLE 6 Common Verbs That End in - gar and Their Subjunctive Forms

Infinitive

Subjunctive Endings

agregar (to add)

agregue, agregues, agreguemos, agreguéis, agreguen

ahogar (to drown)

ahogue, ahogues, ahoguemos, ahoguéis, ahoguen

apagar (to extinguish, to turn off)

apague, apagues, apaguemos, apaguéis, apaguen

cargar (to load)

cargue, cargues, carguemos, carguéis, carguen

castigar (to punish)

castigue, castigues, castiguemos, castiguéis, castiguen

colgar (to hang)

cuelgue, cuelgues, colguemos, colguéis, cuelguen

encargar (to put in charge)

encargue, encargues, encarguemos, encarguéis, encarguen

entregar (to hand over)

entregue, entregues, entreguemos, entreguéis, entreguen

jugar (to play)

juegue, juegues, juguemos, juguéis, jueguen

llegar (to arrive)

llegue, llegues, lleguemos, lleguéis, lleguen

madrugar (to rise early)

madrugue, madrugues, madruguemos, madruguéis madruguen

negar (to deny)

niegue, niegues, neguemos, neguéis, nieguen

obligar (to obligate)

obligue, obligues, obliguemos, obliguéis, obliguen

pegar (to hit)

pegue, pegues, peguemos, peguéis, peguen

regar (to water a plant)

riegue, riegues, reguemos, reguéis, rieguen

rogar (to beg)

ruegue, ruegues, roguemos, roguéis, rueguen

segar (to mow the lawn)

siegue, siegues, seguemos, seguéis, sieguen

tragar (to swallow)

trague, tragues, traguemos, traguéis, traguen

vagar (to wander)

vague, vagues, vaguemos, vaguéis, vaguen

There is a consistent rule in Spanish that dictates that the letter z change to a c when followed by an e. This spelling change occurs in every subjunctive conjugated form of any verb that ends in - zar.

Look at the conjugation chart in Table 7 and use it as an example for the - zar verbs in Table 8 .

TABLE 7 Present Subjunctive Conjugation Chart for Abrazar (to Hug)

Subject

Verb

Subject

Verb

yo

abrace

nosotros/nosotras

abracemos

tú

abraces

vosotros/vosotras

abracéis

él

abrace

ellos

abracen

ella

abrace

ellas

abracen

usted

abrace

ustedes

abracen


TABLE 8 Common Verbs That End in - zar and Their Subjunctive Forms

Infinitive

Subjunctive Endings

abrazar (to hug)

abrace, abraces, abracemos, abracéis, abracen

autorizar (to authorize)

autorice, autorices, autoricemos, autoricéis, autoricen

alcanzar (to reach)

alcance, alcances, alcancemos, alcancéis, alcancen

almorzar (to eat lunch)

almuerce, almuerces, almorcemos, almorcéis, almuercen

amenazar (to threaten)

amenace, amenaces, amenacemos, amenacéis, amenacen

avanzar (to advance)

avance, avances, avancemos, avancéis, avancen

comenzar (to begin)

comience, comiences, comencemos, comencéis, comiencen

empezar (to begin)

empiece, empieces, empecemos, empecéis, empiecen

gozar (to enjoy)

goce, goces, gocemos, gocéis, gocen

lanzar (to throw)

lance, lances, lancemos, lancéis, lancen

organizar (to organize)

organice, organices, organicemos, organicéis, organicen

realizar (to fulfill)

realice, realices, realicemos, realicéis, realicen

rezar (to pray)

rece, reces, recemos, recéis, recen

simbolizar (to symbolize)

simbolice, simbolices, simbolicemos, simbolicéis, simbolicen

trazar (to trace)

trace, traces, tracemos, tracéis, tracen

tropezar (to stumble)

tropiece, tropieces, tropecemos, tropecéis, tropiecen

Table 8 provides the subjunctive forms of common - zar verbs. Because the él form is the same as the yo form, it is not listed.

Notice that - ar verbs do not undergo a stem change in the nosotros/nosotras or vosotros/vosotras forms but do undergo a stem change in all other forms.

Present subjunctive of - er and - ir verbs

The earlier chant still applies when you conjugate - er and - ir verbs in the subjunctive present tense:

  1. form of yo

  2. drop the - o

  3. add the opposite endings

As you can see in Table 9 , the endings for - er and - ir verbs in the present subjunctive look like the - ar endings in the regular (indicative) present tense, except that the yo form is exactly like the él form.

TABLE 9 Present Subjunctive Conjugation Chart for - er and - ir Verbs

Subject

Ending

Subject

Ending

yo

-a

nosotros/nosotras

-amos

tú

-as

vosotros/vosotras

-áis

él

-a

ellos

-an

ella

-a

ellas

-an

usted

-a

ustedes

-an

The verb escribir is a regular - ir verb so, in the present subjunctive, it takes regular - ar endings (see Table 10 ).

TABLE 10 Present Subjunctive Conjugation Chart for Escribir (to Write)

Subject

Verb

Subject

Verb

yo

escriba

nosotros/nosotras

escribamos

tú