#subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is not a grammatical "tense" that's easy to learn. It's a mood

In the same way that the indicative encompasses present tense, preterite, imperfect, future, and conditional... the subjunctive mood encompasses multiple things and each one is a learning curve

I'm saying that so you realize two things - first, that subjunctive is hard, and second, that it's not impossible to learn but it takes longer to learn

When I was in school they told us that a good part of Spanish 3 and 4 [which would be like B1/B2 level courses devoted to grammar specifically] would be trying to understand subjunctive

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Again, a quick overview, there are three grammatical moods in Spanish

These are the imperative [commands], subjunctive, and indicative. When people try to explain the indicative they basically say everything that isn't subjunctive or a command

Moods are the umbrella terms, and each mood contains something similar to a grammatical "tense" with separate conjugations

"Moods" (el modo "mode" in Spanish) are the way Spanish is used. And "tenses" (el tiempo "time/weather" in Spanish) are best described like the ways/times Spanish is used

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To put into really basic terms (not 100% accurate terms but as close as I can explain), the "moods" are the way Spanish is used, and the tenses are largely whether it's past, present, or future

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As for what subjunctive mood is, it's going to depend on the ways you're seeing it

Subjunctive is primarily the mood used for: polite requests, doubt, hypotheticals and contrary to fact statements, hopes/wishes, uncertainty, and things that have the possibility to happen but might not actually happen

All of that sounds really complicated and confusing, but the more you get used to it, the more you can see subjunctive in English and you get closer to understanding it

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When you're introduced to subjunctive in classrooms it's usually in the context of polite requests and a handful of subjunctive clauses

The polite requests (plus expressions of hope/desire or doubt) are the part of subjunctive that make the most sense

It's called "polite requests" since that's usually how it's used but it's specifically one person/thing acting on another, so it's not all requests exactly - but they follow the same pattern

These specific subjunctive expressions are two separate clauses [a subject and conjugated verb] that are separated with que

Quiero que pongas la mesa. = I want you to set the table. Dudo que llueva. = I doubt that it will rain. Espero que lleguen pronto. = I hope that they will arrive soon.

Each one is two separate clauses, with one acting on another subject

It's not possible for one subject to act on itself in subjunctive...... In other words, espero llegar pronto "I hope to arrive soon" or quiero poner la mesa "I want to set the table"

It's not possible to say "I want myself to do something" in a way that is subjunctive - it's always indicative, just one modal/helping verb + unconjugated

But likewise, with expressions that are weather or things that are 3rd person in nature, it's not possible for expressions of doubt/uncertainty regarding them NOT to be subjunctive:

Espero que no haga calor. = I hope it's not hot (out). Dudo que nieve. = I doubt that it will snow.

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Once you move past the polite requests, desires, and doubts, you then learn more about uncertainty or when opinions or subjective thoughts can be subjunctive

This is harder to explain sometimes. People will understand more about doubt/probability - for example:

Es posible que no llegue a tiempo. = It's possible that it won't arrive on time. Puede que sea necesario. = It may be necessary.

Related to this you'll see something very important:

creer que + indicative no creer que + subjunctive

pensar que + indicative no pensar que + subjunctive

estar seguro/a de que + indicative no estar seguro/a de que + subjunctive

Expressions of opinion and belief in the affirmative are not subjunctive. But in the negative, they're subjunctive.

It's like the difference between "I think it can happen" then "I don't think it could happen" where the negative comes out more doubtful or unlikely

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Next you'll have some subjunctive clauses, and these can be confusing but they're parts of speech that either always or usually imply subjunctive

Some of them can be indicative, but just keep an eye on subjunctive clauses - particularly be aware of if something has happened yet (indicative) or something may happen later (subjunctive)

para que = so that (something happens)

a menos que = unless (something happens)

con tal de que = as long as (something happens)

antes de que = before (something happens)

después de que = after (something happens)

hasta que = until (something happens)

You also see this a lot with expressions of subjective emotion and interest; me alegro de que, me alegra que, es necesario que, es interesante que, es aconsejable que...

Some verbs also tend to imply subjunctive:

querer que = to want (that)

desear que = to desire (that)

esperar que = to hope (that) esperar a que = to wait until (something happens) / "to await"

necesitar que = to need (that)

recomendar que = to recommend (that)

pedir que = to request (that)

sugerir que = to suggest (that)

aconsejar que = to advise (that)

rogar que = to beg (that)

exigir que = to demand (that)

obligar a que = to force (someone to do something)

insistir que = to insist (that)

dudar que = to doubt (that something will happen)

And plenty others, but usually you can sense that they're verbs of putting a request onto someone else and they almost always involve a que

The verbs by themselves aren't necessarily subjunctive, but the use of que does tend to imply an imposition of will/desire onto something else, or a feeling being placed onto something else

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It's also worth pointing out that many expressions can go either way

si "if" and cuando "when" can be indicative or subjunctive, but they read differently

si tienes tiempo = if you have time si tengas tiempo = if you happen to have time [sounds a little too polite, almost deferential] cuando tienes tiempo = when you have time cuando tengas tiempo = whenever you have time [sounds doubtful or hesitant]

Many expressions in English that have an -ever imply a certain amount of subjunctive of the unknown

a quien corresponda is "to whom it concerns" but it reads like "to whomever this should go to" - it's like saying "I don't know who this is supposed to go to, but to that person I have this to say..."

lo que sea = whatever [lit. "whatever it may be"]

como quieras = as you wish [lit. "however you want it"] Como gustéis = As You Like It [the Shakespeare play; lit. "however you are pleased"]

dondequiera = wherever [sometimes por dondequiera "all over the place", literally "around wherever", sometimes shortened as doquier]

adondequiera que vayas = wherever you go

cuando quieras = whenever you want

quienquiera = whoever / whosoever, whomever

Some expressions like this are understood as subjunctive because it's being done, but you don't know by who or when; that's the idea behind a quien corresponda

Sometimes it's an unknown subject or an unknown condition that lets in uncertainty

Quien lea esto... = Whoever reads this... El que esté sin pecado... = He who is without sin... [depending on the Bible version it might be el que de vosotros esté sin pecado "he/whoever that among (all of) you is without sin", some versions use ustedes instead of vosotros but either way it's subjunctive] No me importa lo que digan. = I don't care what they say. [lit. "whatever they happen to say, I do not care (about it)"]

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There's also a very important word when it comes to subjunctive which is aunque and this will change meaning depending on if it's subjunctive or indicative

As indicative - aunque usually means "although" or "though"

Aunque es verdad que... = Although it is true that... Aunque están contentos... = Although they are happy Aunque dicen que... = Although they say that...

But as subjunctive, aunque gets used in contrary to fact statements or hypotheticals - "even though" or "even if"

Aunque sea verdad que... = Even if it's true that... Aunque estén contentos... = Even if they are happy... Aunque digan que... = Even if they say...

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The final major aspect of subjunctive is the imperfect subjunctive which can be narrowed down to two major things

First is that it's past tense subjunctive; the same sorts of phrases you would see for subjunctive can be done in past tense:

Querían que me fuera. = They wanted me to leave. Esperaba que lloviera. = I expected/hoped that it would rain. No pensaba que fuera posible. = I didn't think it was/would be possible.

The other main aspect of imperfect subjunctive is that it can be used for contrary to fact statements and hypothetical futures

This is probably the closest you get to being able to notice the subjunctive in English:

Si fuera rico/a... = If I were rich...

English has two versions of this. We can say "if I was rich" and also "if I were rich"; the "was" is typically past tense, but "were" is directly from German's imperfect subjunctive carried over into English

Most often these expressions come up as "if/then" statements with imperfect subjunctive as the "if", and conditional tense [which is indicative] as the "then"

Si pudiera (hacerlo), ayudaría. = If I could, I would help. [lit. "if I were able (to do it), I would help. Ayudaría, si pudiera. = I would help, if I could.

As you can see, "if/then" statements can be phrased either way - the "if" describes a hypothetical reality that isn't necessarily true. The "then" says what would happen in that case

In other words "if I were able to" or "if I could" implies that I may or may not be able to; that's what's meant by contrary to fact or hypothetical

And the imperfect subjunctive can be used without conditional in some cases:

Aunque fuera verdad... = Even if that were true... Antes de que pudieran testificar... = Before they could testify... Lo escribiste en la pizarra para que todos pudiéramos ver la respuesta. = You wrote it on the blackboard so that all of us could see the answer. [or, "so that all of us would be able to see the answer" - would and could are really murky in this tense for English]

You'll also see como si fuera or como si estuviera as "as if it were"; these are ser/estar differences but just be aware:

como si fuera la última vez = as if it were the last time Los dos se quedaron en silencio como si fueran de piedra. = The two stayed silent as if they were made of stone. como si estuviera contento/a = as if he/she were happy Seguían hablando como si todavía estuviera aquí. = They kept talking as if he/she were still here.

Especially in literature you're going to see a lot of similes and analogies using como si + imperfect subjunctive for descriptions of things - things that aren't necessarily true scenarios but "as if it were"

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*Please Note: if you look up the imperfect subjunctive you will see two separate conjugations

Latin America tends to use -iera/-ara forms for all of imperfect subjunctive

Spain tends to use -iera/-ara for a more past tense imperfect subjunctive, while the hypotheticals are usually done for Spain with the -iese/-ase forms

In other words:

Si fuera el jefe... = If I were the boss... Si fuese el jefe... = If I were the boss...

Both are accepted; just that if I see si fuese I would think Spain

Typically Spain makes more of a distinction, and Latin America uses just one form at least in my experience

The distinction is something like "if I studied abroad", one is more past tense "this would have happened if I studied abroad", and the other is more hypothetical "what if I studied abroad?" - not a perfect analogy but you can sort of see the breakdown the same way English uses "was/were" can create confusion

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Please also note that even Spanish-speakers are not all in agreement on imperfect subjunctive. There are people who use only conditional, or use only the imperfect subjunctive and ignore the conditional tense... It's a bit of a mess, but standard Spanish recognizes both the imperfect subjunctive and the conditional

The English uses a lot of the same tense conjugations for all of this so it's just as confusing there too sometimes and often requires you to understand the vibe of what's being said, and if you mean it in a past sort of way [i.e. "could have" as in "I did have the ability to", which is podía imperfect], a conditional sort of way [i.e. "could have" as in "I could have done that (if I had the chance)" which is podría conditional], or a hypothetical sort of way [i.e. "could have" as in "if only I could have done that" which is pudiera or pudiese imperfect subjunctive]

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There's more history involved in the imperfect subjunctive that could really bog this explanation down though

And finally, it's obsolete now but there used to be a future subjunctive which is now used in imperfect subjunctive

These endings were like -iere/-are, and you're not going to see them today unless you read old things or some legalese; like si fuere menester in older stuff comes out like "in the event of" but more literally "should it happen to be necessary"

This particular future subjunctive is very similar to English saying "should" in older dramas like "if I should choose to go" si fuere which is ir... or "if I should happen upon" which is more like si me encontrare

Again this is just so in case you see it in a conjugation chart because it will be there and it's confusing if you don't know

So if you see -iere/-are forms, that's what that means and don't worry about it but just know what it is

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One final tip:

Conjugating the present subjunctive is using the present tense (indicative) yo conjugation, and then switching the typical ending [with the exception of irregular verbs like ser, ir, dar, haber and a handful of others]

So in general your conjugation will depend on what the present tense yo looks like and thus it's really important to know your irregulars and stem-changing verbs:

hablo -> hable, hables, hable, hablen, hablemos, habléis vivo -> viva, vivas, viva, vivan, vivamos, viváis como -> coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis digo -> diga, digas, diga, digan, digamos, digáis tengo -> tenga, tengas, tenga, tengan, tengamos, tengáis pido -> pida, pidas, pida, pidan, pidamos, pidáis duermo -> duerma, duermas, duerma, duerman, durmamos, durmáis pienso -> piense, pienses, piense, piensen, pensemos, penséis

And all weird ones like conozco -> conozca, finjo -> finja, venzo -> venza, and so on.

Imperfect subjunctive conjugates according to 3rd person (plural) preterite

You'll get tuvieron -> tuviera, dijeron -> dijera, durmieron -> durmiera, etc. And the weird ones here like leyeron -> leyera, condujeron -> condujera

If you're not there yet don't worry about it but that's the pattern you're following; also note that ser and ir have the same conjugation in preterite so it's both fuera