How to think about the Spanish Subjunctive

You’ve seen it around: 

Phrases like espero que tengas, no creo que pueda, or es como si fuera… 

It’s the… [insert Jaws music]…

Subjunctive! 

On top of all the other conjugations, there’s this whole other “mood” to learn, with its own set of verb endings. 

It is kind of a pain… But it doesn’t have to drive you crazy.

The reality is, it’s worthwhile to get good at using the subjunctive in Spanish. 

If you dedicate time to it, it can become a source of confidence and accomplishment in your Spanish. 

So today, I want to do two things: 

1. Help you understand why the subjunctive mood exists in the first place (which will guide you when the mnemonics and rule books fail)
2. Share a couple tips to conjugate it all more easily

We’ll also do a little practice. Let’s dive in. 

No hope

In school, I remember teachers avoiding the verb esperar because we hadn’t “gotten there yet”. 

Then once we got there, I avoided using “I hope” on tests for fear of getting it wrong. 

There had been a lot of talk about its difficulty, and the dense conjugation tables only added to the perceived challenge. 

But taken on little by little, the subjunctive doesn’t have to be a source of stress or insecurity. 

You’ll have to be okay with saying things wrong for a while, but that’s the case no matter what method you take. 

First, let’s look at the general idea behind the subjunctive. Why it exists at all. 

Why and when to use it: SHUD

In a YouTube video I made a while back, I referred to it as the “opposite tense”, which I think helps with the conjugation part (more on that in a minute). 

But recently, I came across a description that better describes why we use it. 

The description came from the movie El suplente (on Netflix), about a professor who takes a job teaching high school literature in his childhood neighborhood in Buenos Aires. 

In one scene, he’s quizzing his daughter in preparation for a Spanish language exam: 

• [Papá]: ¿”Tuvieras”? Segunda persona del singular. Pretérito imperfecto…¿Modo?
• [Hija]: Eh… modo indicativo.
• [Papá] No, no, mi amor. Subjuntivo. Es el modo de las posibilidades, de los deseos…
• [Hija]: Quiero vivir en ese modo. 
• [Papá] Dale, mi amor, por favor.

“Es el modo de las posibilidades, de los deseos”. 

“It’s the mood of possibilities, of desires”. 

That’s how you can think of the subjunctive: the world of possibilities, desires, and subjectivity. 

So while memorizing “subjunctive triggers” (like espero, ojalá, dudo que, etc.) does help, it’s important to understand the reason it exists. 

Here’s the shortest definition I can come up with: 

To express situations that are Subjective, Hypothetical, Uncertain, or Doubtful (SHUD) about something (past, present, or future). 

When you’re unsure if you should use the subjunctive, ask yourself if you “SHUD”. 

Now let’s look at how to use it in context. 

How to use el subjuntivo

There are two main uses you need to learn: present and past/conditional.

You can see the present in phrases like…

• Espero que vengas mañana (venir)
• Es importante que ganen este partido (ganar)
• Es posible que llueva mañana (llover)

And you see it in the past and conditional in phrases like…

• Esperaba que vinieras, pero nunca te vi.
• Era importante que ganaran este partido
• Si lloviera no haría tanto calor.

Let’s take a look at forming the present version first.

We use this one to talk about “SHUDs” in the present and future. 

Situations like “I hope they have donuts” and “He wants us to work on Saturday”. 

To conjugate these verbs, you take the yo form, then swap the ending.

So if it’s an -AR verb, it’ll have an E ending.

If it’s an -ER/IR verb, it’ll have an A ending.

Hence my nickname of the “opposite tense”.

• Venir → vengo → venga (vengas, vengamos, etc.)
• Ganar → gano → gane (ganes, ganemos, etc.)
• Llover → lluevo → llueva 

¡Te toca! Quick practice:

1. Espero que [yo + poder] hacerlo
2. No creo que [él + tardar] mucho
3. Es imposible que [tú + entender] sin escuchar

[answers at the end]

Now let’s look at the past and conditional.

This is for things like “I was hoping you’d help me with this”, or “If I were a carpenter”. 

To conjugate these verbs, you take the ellos/ellas/ustedes form of the preterite…

Then swap the ending for an A!

• Venir → vinieron → viniera (vinieras, viniéramos, etc). 
• Ganar → ganaron → ganara (ganaras, ganáramos, etc.)
• Llover → llovieron → lloviera 

¡Te toca! Quick practice:

1. No era posible que [tú + llegar] a tiempo
2. Ojalá [yo + hablar] japonés
3. La profesora quería que [ellos + estudiar]

[answers at the end]

Here’s the video I mentioned earlier if you want a bit more on the present subjunctive:

Don’t rush it

As with anything in Spanish, there’s more to learn about this topic.

But in my experience, it’s better not to worry about all the things you don’t know yet. 

Those will come in time, but only if you have patience. 

For now, your goal is just to start noticing the subjunctive when you see it in context. If you like, do some more practice exercises (AI is good for this, just say “give me 5 exercises to practice XYZ”). 

But remember to bite things off in small chunks. There’s no rush.

Today’s newsletter was a bit different from usual, but I thought a practical lesson was in order.

Hope you found it useful. 

Connor 

P.S. If you found today’s tip helpful, and feeling more fluid overall in your Spanish is a goal of yours, this might help.

P.P.S. Here are the answers to the questions above

     Present:

1. Espero que (yo) pueda hacerlo
2. No creo que (él) tarde mucho
3. Es imposible que (tú) entiendas sin escuchar

      Past:

1. No era posible que (tú) llegaras a tiempo
2. Ojalá (yo) hablara japonés
3. La profesora quería que (ellos) estudiaran

*Note that in most cases, context makes the pronoun unnecessary