Glottos · ES
← Course home

Lesson 31: Presente de subjuntivo — the forms

Vocabulary: high-frequency verbs of every conjugation type, run through the subjunctive

How to work with this lesson

  1. Read the derivation rule — there's only one and it's simple (3 min).
  2. Run the tables out loud — person by person, verb by verb. Without fluency on the forms, the next nine lessons (L32–L40) will stall.
  3. Drill the matrix exercises — "subjuntivo of tener, nosotros" — until the answer flies out in under a second.

This lesson is forms only. The uses get sorted out cleanly in L32–L40. Good news: the derivation rule is one rule and works almost everywhere. Bad news: there are six exceptions, and you need to know them cold. If you did the work in L12 (irregular yo-forms), 80% of this lesson is already done.

Part 1: What the subjunctive even is (for English speakers)

English used to have a real subjunctive mood. It mostly died, but a corpse survives in a few phrases: "If I were you" (not was), "I suggest he be on time" (not is), "Long live the king" (not lives). What they share: the speaker is not stating a fact — they're naming a hypothetical, a wish, a demand.

Spanish does this all the time. Where English caved and switched to plain indicative ("I hope he comes") or modal paraphrase ("I want him to come"), Spanish kept the subjunctive alive: Espero que venga ("I hope he comes"), Quiero que vengas ("I want you to come"), Ojalá llueva ("Hopefully it rains"). The subjunctive is a separate set of verb endings — a parallel conjugation. This lesson teaches only the forms. When to use them comes in L32–L40. Treat it like the multiplication table: boring but non-negotiable. Once it's in muscle memory, the next nine lessons get easy.

Part 2: The master rule — "yo-form, drop -o, opposite vowel"

Take the verb in the present indicative, the yo form, drop the -o — that's your subjuntivo stem. Then add endings using the opposite thematic vowel:

  • -AR verbs take -E endings (the opposite of their normal a)
  • -ER / -IR verbs take -A endings (the opposite of their normal e or i)

That's the whole trick. Everything else is bookkeeping.

Typeyo (present)stem+ endings
-ARhablohabl--e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en
-ERcomocom--a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an
-IRvivoviv--a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an

Full tables — regular verbs, side by side

Personhablar (to speak)comer (to eat)vivir (to live)
yohablecomaviva
túhablescomasvivas
él / ella / ustedhablecomaviva
nosotroshablemoscomamosvivamos
vosotroshabléiscomáisviváis
ellos / ustedeshablencomanvivan

Notice: 1st and 3rd person singular are identical — hable and hable, coma and coma. That's normal (same thing happens in the imperfect). Context and pronouns disambiguate. Accent marks: only on vosotros — habléis, comáis, viváis. Don't drop them.

Part 3: The rule in action — irregular yo-forms carry over to ALL persons

If the present tense has a "weird" yo-form (think L12: tengo, hago, conozco, pongo, salgo, digo, oigo, traigo, vengo, veo), that weirdness gets baked into the subjuntivo stem and shows up everywhere — all six persons.

Infinitiveyo (present)stemyo (subj.)nosotros (subj.)ellos (subj.)
tenertengoteng-tengatengamostengan
hacerhagohag-hagahagamoshagan
ponerpongopong-pongapongamospongan
salirsalgosalg-salgasalgamossalgan
decirdigodig-digadigamosdigan
venirvengoveng-vengavengamosvengan
oíroigooig-oigaoigamosoigan
traertraigotraig-traigatraigamostraigan
conocerconozcoconozc-conozcaconozcamosconozcan
verveove-veaveamosvean

The key insight: in the present indicative, the irregular yo stands alone (tengo but tienes, tiene...). In the subjuntivo, all six persons inherit the irregular stem. tengo / tienes / tiene, but tenga / tengas / tenga / tengamos / tengáis / tengan — every one with teng-. Run hacer the same way: haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan. And conocer: conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos, conozcáis, conozcan. Once you see the pattern, you can generate all six persons from any irregular yo on the fly.

Part 4: Stem-changing verbs — the rule plus one tweak

Stem-changers behave almost like the master rule says. One wrinkle:

  • -AR / -ER with stem changes (e→ie, o→ue): change in the same places as the present — 1/2/3 sg and 3 pl — NOT in nosotros / vosotros.
  • -IR with stem changes: change everywhere, including nosotros / vosotros, but in those two persons the vowel goes to its weak form (e→i instead of e→ie; o→u instead of o→ue).

-AR / -ER: pensar (e→ie), poder (o→ue)

Personpensar (think)poder (be able)
yopiensepueda
túpiensespuedas
él / ella / ustedpiensepueda
nosotrospensemospodamos
vosotrospenséispodáis
ellos / ustedespiensenpuedan

Notice: in nosotros / vosotros the stem reverts to its "calm" form — pens-, pod-. Same shape as in the present.

-IR: stem change goes EVERYWHERE (including nosotros / vosotros)

Personsentir (feel, e→ie/i)pedir (ask, e→i)dormir (sleep, o→ue/u)
yosientapidaduerma
túsientaspidasduermas
él / ella / ustedsientapidaduerma
nosotrossintamospidamosdurmamos
vosotrossintáispidáisdurmáis
ellos / ustedessientanpidanduerman

Memorize the picture: -IR stem-changers in nosotros / vosotros take the weak vowel — sintamos, pidamos, durmamos. Everywhere else, just like the present (siento → sienta, pido → pida, duermo → duerma).

Part 5: The six truly irregular subjunctives — memorize cold

These verbs don't follow the yo-form rule (either because their present yo doesn't end in -o, or because the subjuntivo stem is just plain different). There are six. Learn them like a song.

Personserestarir
yoseaestévaya
túseasestésvayas
él / ella / ustedseaestévaya
nosotrosseamosestemosvayamos
vosotrosseáisestéisvayáis
ellos / ustedesseanesténvayan
Persondarsaberhaber
yodésepahaya
túdessepashayas
él / ella / usteddésepahaya
nosotrosdemossepamoshayamos
vosotrosdeissepáishayáis
ellos / ustedesdensepanhayan

Accent marks on estar are mandatory in esté, estés, esté, estéis, estén (but NOT in estemos). Without the accent, the stress would slide off the last syllable — the accent forces it to stay put. Accent on dé (1st and 3rd singular of dar) — distinguishes it from the preposition de. The other forms des, demos, deis, den — no accent. haber is an auxiliary; you'll use it to build compound subjunctives like haya hablado ("that I may have spoken").

Mnemonic for the six: SE-ESTÁ-DA-VA-SE-HA (sea, esté, dé, vaya, sepa, haya). Drill this set every day for a week. The payoff is huge — these six show up constantly.

Why ver isn't in this list: ver (vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean) actually does follow the yo-form rule — veo → drop -o → ve- → add -a endings → vea. Just looks short because the stem is short. It's regular.

Part 6: How this connects to L12, L29, L30 — the pieces snap together

  • L12 (irregular yo-forms). tengo, hago, pongo, salgo, digo, conozco, oigo, traigo — these exact stems build the entire subjuntivo. If you've forgotten them, revisit L12.
  • L30 (negative commands). no hables, no comas, no salgas, no tengas, no vayas — these weren't "special imperative forms," they were subjuntivo. So half the forms in this lesson are already in your mouth.
  • L29 (affirmative commands). Tú and vosotros affirmative are their own forms, but usted / nosotros / ustedes affirmative commands (hable usted, comamos, vivan ustedes) — also subjuntivo.
ConstructionWhich form set
Affirmative command, tú / vosotrosSpecial imperative form (L29)
Affirmative command, usted / nosotros / ustedessubjuntivo (L29)
Any negative commandsubjuntivo (L30)
Subjunctive in subordinate clausessubjuntivo (L32–L40)

Takeaway: you're not learning "yet another mood" — you're learning the core of all advanced grammar. One set of forms, multiple jobs.

Next up: Lesson 32 — Subjuntivo after will and influence: querer que, ojalá, esperar que, pedir que, preferir que and friends. You already have the forms. Now you learn the first big bucket of when to actually fire them off.

Lesson 31: Presente de subjuntivo — the forms · Español · Glottos Matrix