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Spanish/Tenses/Subjunctive/Simple
Reference material by Wikibooks contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
The present subjunctive in Spanish is formed by adding the following endings to the stems of verbs:
-ar: -e, -es, -e, -emos,- éis, -en
-er/-ir: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an
Verbs that are stem changing/ boot verbs in the present indicative will do the same in the present subjunctive.
If a verb has an irregular yo form in the present indicative that is the base form for the present subjunctive; hence tener, tengo, becomes: tenga, tengas, tenga, etc., or oír, oigo, becomes: oiga, oigas, oiga, etc.
Verbs that end in –uir, like huir, which have a ‘y’ between stem and ending in the boot (all forms but nosotros and vosotros) in the present indicative function as yo irregulars: all six forms in the present subjunctive have the ‘y’: huya, huyas, huya, huyamos, huyáis, huyan.
For phonetic reasons there are various spell changes. The –car, -gar, -zar, -guar yo spell changes in the preterit occur in all six forms of the present subjunctive. Sacar: saque, saques, saque, etc. Llegar: llegue, llegues, llegue, etc. Lanzar: lance, lances, lance, etc. Averiguar: averigüe, averigües, averigüe, etc. Also yo spell changes from the present indicative will occur in all six forms in the present subjunctive for: -ger/gir, consonent+-zar, -guir. Escoger: escoja, escojas, escoja, etc. Vencer: venza, venzas, venza, etc. Seguir: siga, sigas, siga, etc.
-ir stem changing verbs will have a change in the nosotros and vosotros forms, with the ‘o’ in the stem becoming a ‘u’ or the ‘e’ becoming an ‘i’. Morir: muera, mueras, muera, muramos, muráis, mueran. Sentir: sienta, sientas, sienta, sintamos, sintáis, sientan.
There are six irregular verbs in the present subjunctive:
Ser: sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean
Ir: vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan
Saber: sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan
Haber: haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan
Estar: esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén
Dar: dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den
The imperfect subjunctive in Spanish is formed by adding the following endings to the third person plural of the preterit after removing the ‘-ron’
-ra, -ras, -ra, ’-ramos, -rais, -ran
Hence hablar, hablaron, becomes: hablara, hablaras, hablara, habláramos, hablarais, hablaran
Or vivir, vivieron, becomes: viviera, vivieras, viviera, viviéramos, vivierais, vivieran
An alternative, less used, set of endings is also available:
-se, -ses, -se, ’-semos, -seis, -sen
The future subjunctive (not commonly used but an accepted form), like the imperfect subjunctive, is formed using the third person plural of the preterit after removing the ‘-ron’. The endings are:
-re, -res, -re, ’-remos, -reis, -ren