Spanish Subjunctive Mood: 5 Smart Steps To Quickly Master The Spanish Subjunctive

By the time you've made it past the first stage of learning Spanish, you're probably feeling pretty confident.

Although you have a pretty good command of the language, Spanish can still throw you a curve ball every now and then.

The Spanish subjunctive mood is one of those curveballs because it's not something we use in English so much, apart from a few remnants like “I wish you were here” or “God save the Queen”.

In Spanish the subjunctive mood is still alive and well so you absolutely need the subjunctive mood to speak Spanish like a native.

Once you understand the subjunctive, you'll probably realise there are things you've been saying wrong this whole time.

For example, can you tell if this sentence is correct?

Es posible que vamos mañana. (It's possible that we'll go tomorrow.)

By the end of the article, you'll know if this sentence is correct and why (or why not).

I've gone over when to use the subjunctive in a video here. Or you can scroll down and read everything you need to know below.

1. How To Conjugate The Present Subjunctive In Spanish

Before tackling the question of when to use the subjunctive, you'll need to know how to conjugate it. So let's get started.

Conjugating the subjunctive is actually pretty easy.

Even verbs that are irregular in the indicative are simple to conjugate into the subjunctive because all you need to know is the yo form.

• Start by conjugating each verb into the present indicative yo form
• From there, drop the –o to get the subjunctive stem

Once you have the subjunctive stem, just add the appropriate ending

Again, the conjugation is relatively simple because there are only two endings for each subject—one for –ar verbs and one for –er/ir verbs:

To make matters even easier, there are only a handful of irregular verbs in the present subjunctive:

• ser (to be): sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean 
• estar (to be): esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén
• dar (to give): dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den 
• haber (to have/be): haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan 
• ir (to go): vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan 
• saber (to know): sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan 

And that's it! Once you learn those six irregulars, you'll have everything you need to know to form the subjunctive pretty quickly.

What takes some practice and can be confusing is when to use the subjunctive and why.

2. When To Use The Spanish Subjunctive (And Why)

I use a noun clause formula to know when the subjunctive is needed in Spanish.

Here's how it works:

Sentences that use the Spanish subjunctive have three distinct criteria:

1. Two subjects and two verbs
2. The two subjects and verbs are separated by que
3. An uncertain or emotional mood

The most basic components you need to make a sentence are a subject (the noun) and a predicate (the verb). In Spanish, those two parts are often combined. Hablo, for example, is both the subject (I) and the verb (speak).

With noun phrase subjunctives, you have two subjects and two verbs separated by que.

S1/V1 + que + S2/V2

When these conditions are met, the second verb is conjugated in the subjunctive.

¡Ojo!: This only works when the two subjects are different.

To say, “I hope to enjoy my vacation” (both subjects are yo), you would simply say, Espero disfrutar mis vacaciones.

Here's an example of the Spanish subjunctive in use:

Espero que disfrutes tus vacaciones. (I hope you enjoy your vacation.)

Let's see if we meet all three criteria:

Two subjects and two verbs
✓ Both espero (I hope) and disfrutes (you enjoy) are a subject and verb

The two subjects and verbs are separated by que
✓ Espero que disfrutes tus vacaciones

What About The Third Point? An uncertain or emotional mood.

The subjunctive is also called “the subjunctive mood” because it accompanies sentences and phrases that convey a certain feeling.

The easiest way to remember when to use the subjunctive is to know the subjunctive is needed when talking about these three things:

1. desires
2. needs
3. emotions.

So does our example sentence count?

Yes! Espero que disfrutes tus vacaciones conveys a desire with the verb esperar.

3. Verbs That Signal The Spanish Subjunctive

Here are some verbs that usually signal the subjunctive will follow:

• Esperar (to hope)
• Preferir (to prefer)
• Querer (to want)
• Necesitar (to need)
• Alegrarse (to be glad)
• Molestarse (to annoy)

Prefieren que hagamos la reservación ya. (They prefer that we make the reservation now.)

The subjunctive is also used when expressing doubt:

• Dudar (to doubt)
• No pensar (To not think)
• No creer (To not believe)

¿No piensas que sea mejor hablar con Juan? (Don't you think it would be better to talk to Juan?)

¡Ojo!: Verbs like pensar and creer only signal the subjunctive when they are negative (expressing doubt). In their positive forms, use the indicative. The same is true of no dudar (to not doubt).

The subjunctive is also used with impersonal expressions, often that start with “it is” in English:

• Es bueno (it is good)
• Es posible (it is possible)
• Es necesario (it is necessary)

Es bueno que tú aprendas español. (It is good that you are learning Spanish.)

These are not simple statements of fact. Although they are impersonal statements, they're still expressing an opinion or possibility. It's not a straightforward statement.

Often, when you have a point of view or subjective statement, it's a clue you need the subjunctive.

Again, que is dividing two parts of the sentence—two subjects and two verbs.

With these impersonal expressions, the first subject and verb are contained in es (it is).

4. Putting It All Together

Let's go back to our initial example and see if you can figure it out using the noun clause formula:

Es posible que vamos mañana. (It is possible that we will go tomorrow)

Is this correct?

NO!

How do I know? I can tell by going through the three criteria for the subjunctive:

• Two subjects and two verbs
  ✓ Both Es (it is) and vamos (we will go) are a subject and verb
• The two subjects and verbs are separated by que
  ✓ Es posible que vamos mañana
• An uncertain or emotional mood
  ✓ This sentence starts with an impersonal expression that conveys uncertainty

There's an impersonal expression (es posible) that expresses a possibility or uncertainty and two subjects/verbs separated by que. All three sure signs that you need the subjunctive mood!

So, you need to say, Es posible que vayamos mañana.

5. Spanish Subjunctive Mood: Your Next Steps

Although you've now seen many of the most common uses of the Spanish subjunctive, you've only just scratched the surface.

There are exceptions and other situations you will need eventually.

But those can wait.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the subjunctive, it's time to go out and listen to and read lots of authentic Spanish. As you do, you'll probably be surprised at how common the subjunctive really is. Check out this video for starters!

That is one reason I recommend you use stories to learn the subjunctive. You can find a whole collection of short stories full of the subjunctive that can help you learn the subjunctive naturally and quickly here.

It's easy to get confused with the Spanish subjunctive when you're just getting started.

But once you know what you're looking for, you'll start to notice phrases that fit the noun clause formula all throughout your day-to-day conversations.

The Spanish subjunctive doesn't have to be difficult. You can do it!

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Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.