Present and Pluperfect Subjunctive

Present Perfect Subjunctive Remember how the present perfect indicative is

the present (indicative) of “haber” + the past participle? Well, the present perfect subjunctive is the present subjunctive of “haber” (which, like the present indicative of “haber,” is irregular) + the past participle:

haya hablado hayamos hablado

hayas hablado hayáis hablado

haya hablado hayan hablado

As you might expect, the present perfect subjunctive translates just like the present perfect indicative:

ha hablado he has spoken

haya hablado he has spoken

You use the present perfect subjunctive whenever you need the subjunctive:

Sabemos que Juan ha comido. – We know that Juan has eaten.

Dudamos que Juan haya comido. – We doubt that Juan has

eaten.

Pluperfect (Past Perfect) Subjunctive

The past perfect subjunctive is the past (imperfect) subjunctive of “haber” + the past participle. Remember that the way you get the past (imperfect) subjunctive root is to go to the third person plural of the preterit. The preterit of “haber” is “hubieron.”

hubiera hablado hubiéramos hablado

hubieras hablado hubierais hablado

hubiera hablado hubieran hablado

The pluperfect subjunctive translates the same way the pluperfect indicative does:

había hablado he had spoken

hubiera hablado he had spoken

You use the pluperfect subjunctive whenever you need the subjunctive rather than the indicative:

Sabíamos que había comido. – We knew that he had eaten.

Dudábamos que hubiera comido. – We doubted that he

had eaten.

Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.