Conjugations of the present subjunctive The grammatical tenses that we have studied so far are in the indicative mood, except all the commands. The indicative mood is used to discuss facts or real information and to present them objectively. However, the subjunctive mood is used to express attitudes towards events and actions. Like the indicative mood, the subjunctive mood has tenses: present, past, and future. In this lesson, we are going to learn how the present subjunctive is formed. We are going to conjugate regular verbs, stem-changing verbs, and irregular verbs in the present subjunctive. Regular Verbs Follow these steps to conjugate in the present subjunctive: Conjugate the verb in the "yo" form in the present tense of the indicative. Drop the final “-o”. Add new endings. "-ar" verbs New endings for "-ar" verbs: -e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. In the chart below, the verb "hablar" is used as an example of how to conjugate verbs ending in "-ar". Note that all new endings are indicated in bold . Subject pronoun New endings Conjugated verb Yo -e hable Tú -es hables Ud., él, ella -e hable Nosotros, nosotras -emos hablemos Vosotros, vosotras -éis habléis Uds., ellos, ellas -en hablen "-er" verbs and "-ir" verbs New endings for "-er" and "-ir" verbs: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. In the chart below, the verbs "comer" and "abrir" are used as examples of how to conjugate verbs ending in "-er" and "-ir". Note that all new endings are indicated in bold . Subject pronoun New endings Conjugation of "-er" ending verbs Conjugation of "-ir" ending verbs Yo -a coma abra Tú -as comas abras Ud., él, ella -a coma abra Nosotros, nosotras -amos comamos abramos Vosotros, vosotras -áis comáis abráis Uds., ellos, ellas -an coman abran Verbs that end in "-car", "-gar", "-zar" Verbs ending in "-car", "-gar", and "-zar" have a spelling change when conjugated in the present subjunctive: -car → -que, -gar → -gue, -zar → -ce Note: "Empezar" is a verb that ends in "-zar" and it is also a stem-changing verb. The stem-change occurs in all conjugations, except in the "nosotros" and "vosotros" forms. Note that the stem-change in the conjugations of "empezar" is noted in blue. Subject pronouns New endings Conjugation: verbs ending in "-car" Conjugation: verbs ending in "-gar" Conjugation: verbs ending in "-zar" Yo -e saque llegue empiece Tú -es saques llegues empieces Ud., él, ella -e saque llegue empiece Nosotros, nosotras -emos saquemos lleguemos empecemos Vosotros, vosotras -éis saquéis lleguéis empecéis Uds., ellos, ellas -en saquen lleguen empiecen Stem-changing verbs with "-ar" and "-er" verbs Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ar" and "-er" have the same stem-change as the present indicative conjugations. All stem-changes are indicated in blue in the conjugation chart below. Subject pronoun Subjunctive endings for "-ar" Cerrar Cierr- Contar Cuent- Subjunctive endings for "-er" Querer Quier- Poder Pued- Yo -e cierre cuente -a quiera pueda Tú -es cierres cuentes -as quieras puedas Ud., él, ella -e cierre cuente -a quiera pueda Nosotros, nosotras -emos cerremos contemos -amos queramos podamos Vosotros, vosotras -éis cerréis contéis -áis queráis podáis Uds., ellos, ellas -en cierren cuenten -an quieran puedan Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir" Stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir" will undergo a stem-change from “e” to “i”, and “o” to “u” in the "nosotros" and "vosotros" conjugations, as shown in the chart below in the conjugations of "preferir" and "dormir". All stem-changes are indicated in blue in the conjugation chart below. Subject pronoun Subjunctive endings for "-ir" Preferir Prefier- Prefier- Prefir- Dormir Duerm- Duerm- Durm- Pedir Ped- Pid- Seguir Segu- Sig- ("sigo") Decir Dec- Dig- ("digo") Yo -a prefiera duerma pida siga diga Tú -as prefieras duermas pidas sigas digas Ud., él, ella -a prefiera duerma pida siga diga Nosotros, nosotras -amos prefiramos durmamos pidamos sigamos digamos Vosotros, vosotras -áis prefiráis durmáis pidáis sigáis digáis Uds., ellos, ellas -an prefieran duerman pidan sigan digan Irregular verbs There are six irregular verbs in the present subjunctive. To remember these verbs use the mnemonic device DISHES. Subject pronoun Dar Ir Ser Haber Estar Saber Yo dé vaya sea haya esté sepa Tú des vayas seas hayas estés sepas Ud., él, ella dé vaya sea haya esté sepa Nosotros, nosotras demos vayamos seamos hayamos estemos sepamos Vosotros, vosotras deis vayáis seáis hayáis estéis sepáis Uds., ellos, ellas den vayan sean hayan estén sepan