When to use the subjunctive and how to form its four tenses

Definition:A set of verb forms required in clauses of certain

types.The four types of clauses:

• Subordinated noun clauses• Subordinated adjective clauses

• Adverbial clauses•Hypothetical or contrary to fact statements

Define the subjunctive

• Set of verb forms-this is the mental framework on which to place corresponding sets of rules for deciding if the subjunctive is needed

• Students have been led to believe that the subjunctive is all about doubt and uncertainty on the part of the speaker, but this is only one aspect of one clause

The four tenses you need to know

Present Subjunctive• Use Yo- form of the Pres. Indict. • With –ar change the –o to an -e, and for –er

and -ir , change – o to –a.• Reference all forms by their stem• Ir/haber-vaya/haya, ser/ver-sea/vea,

saber/caber-sepa/quepa

The four tenses you need to know

• The Imperfect Subjunctive• Begins with the use of the third person plural

of the preterite• For all verbs remove -on and replace with –a

and conjugate. • Tuvieron = tuvier-on = tuvier+a= tuviera New

YO form!• Irregulars from original preterite follow us into

the imperfect subjunctive, know your forms!

The four tenses you need to know

• Present Perfect subjunctive• Use haber plus past participle –ido and -ado• Pres.perf.indict pres.perf.subj• He haya (present subj.)• Has hayas• Ha haya + ido or ado• Hemos hayamos• Habéis hayáis• Han hayan

Present Perfect subjunctive

• Irregular past participles• Abrir -abierto• Cubrir -cubierto• Decir -dicho• Escribir -escrito• Hacer -hecho• Imprimir -impreso• Morir -muerto• Poner -puesto• Romper -roto• Solver -suelto• Ver -visto• Volver -vuelto

The four tenses you need to know

• Pluperfect subjunctive• Uses the imperfect subjunctive plus past

participle.• Hubiera• Hubieras• Hubiera + ido or ado• Hubiéramos • Hubiérais• Hubieran

Sequence of tenses and the subjunctive

• Understanding which tenses can or must be used in subordinated clauses, introduced by main clauses in which the various indicative tenses are used

• Need to understand Temporal logic of the four forms..Choice depends on the time of action of the main verb

Temporal Logic

• Ojalá que Juan venga a la fiesta. (pres.subj.)– I pray to God that Jon

comes to the party.

• Ojalá que Juan haya venido a la fiesta. (pres.per.subj.)– I pray to God that Jon

has come to the party.

• Ojalá que Juan viniera a la fiesta. (imp.subj.)– I pray to God that Jon

were coming to the party.

• Ojalá que Juan hubiera venido a la fiesta. (plu.subj.)– I pray to God that Jon

had come to the party.

Ojalá que Juan venga a la fiesta. (pres.subj.)I pray to God that Jon comes to the party.

• Present subjunctive is used when the action of the verb is in either the present or future.

• Party is either in progress –Jon will yet come, or it is being planned –Jon will come to it.

Ojalá que Juan haya venido a la fiesta. (pres.per.subj.)I pray to God that Jon has come to the party.

• Present perfect subjunctive is used to express an action that has taken place and whose influence is still in effect.

• The party is actually going on, the speaker has not seen Jon, but is quite hopeful that Jon is there.

Ojalá que Juan viniera a la fiesta. (imp.subj.)

I pray to God that Jon were coming to the party. He knows that he is not going to come.

• Imperfect subjunctive is used to express a strong doubt about Jon’s attendance to the party. If the party is in the planning stages the speaker is highly doubtful that Jon will accept, or the party is in effect and Jon’s arrival is also doubtful or highly unlikely.

• The speaker could have used present perfect subjunctive to express the same doubt, but used the imperfect subjunctive to express counterfactual propositions. (counter to his observations of facts or expectations.)

Ojalá que Juan hubiera venido a la fiesta. (plu.subj.)I pray to God that Jon had come to the party.

• The pluperfect subjunctive is used for an action that is viewed as prior to some other action in the past. (past within a past)

• In this example the party is not only over, but Jon’s arrival is viewed as something that (logically) would have had to have occurred before the party ended.

• Jon never showed up!

Subordinate Noun Clauses

• Acts like a large direct object (noun) that answers the question of WHAT, answering that question posed by the verb at the end of the main clause.

• Yo deseo que el maestro explique el subjunctivo. (S1 + V1 que S2 + V2)

• I want the teacher to explain the subjunctive. (accusative plus infinitive construct.)

• Notice that in English the construct is quite different.• Change English sentence to – I want that the teacher explain

the subjunctive. Now we see the subordinate noun clause!!

The rule for subordinate noun clauses!

• The rule is that V2 must be in the subjunctive form if and only if there is a change of subject, that is if S1 and S2 are not the same person and if V1 is a WEIRDO verb!

• S1 ≠ S2 + (V1 = WEIRDO) = S2 + V2 (in subjunctive)

• Only subordinate noun clauses use WEIRDO!!

Subordinate Noun Clauses and WEIRDO

W A verb of Wishing, willing ,wanting ,hoping ,expecting, etc.

E A verb of Emotion (note: most of these verbs are reflexive!)

I An Impersonal expression of WERD., Introduced by ES + adjective; a verb or other expression that expresses Influence.

R A verb Requesting, asking, demanding, commanding, or causing.

D A verb of Doubt, denial, or negation.

O Ojalá ( que – which may be omitted when using this word)

Subordinate Noun Clauses and WEIRDO

• Quiero que Juan venga la fiesta. –I want Jon to come to the party.

• Me alegro de que Juan venga a la fiesta. –I am glad Jon is coming to the party.

• Es importante que Juan venga a la fiesta. –It is important for Jon to come to the party.

• Vamos a pedirle que venga a la fiesta. –Let’s ask for him to come to the party.

• Dudo que Juan venga a la fiesta. -I doubt that Jon will come to the party.

• ¡Ojalá que venga Juan a la fiesta! –I hope to God that Jon comes to the party!

Subordinate Noun Clauses and WEIRDO

• Let’s take a look at the D category. The one representing Doubt.• Tú crees que la fiesta es hoy. –You believe that the party is today.

(indicative)• Nosotros dudamos que la fiesta sea hoy. –We doubt that the party is

today. (subjunctive)• The rule says that if there is belief one will use the indicative and if

there is Doubt then one must use the subjunctive. • Tú no crees que la fiesta sea hoy. –You don’t believe (doubt) that the

party is today. (subjunctive)• Nosotros no dudamos que la fiesta es hoy. –You don’t doubt (believe)

that the party is today. (indicative)• Here the sentences have been changed, that only the rule about doubt

is reflected. If you express doubt you must use the subjunctive!

Subordinated adjective clauses

• What is it? It is a clause that modifies an indefinite, vague, or nonexistent (unreal) antecedent.

• An antecedent is a previously mentioned noun.• Necesitamos una computadora que funcione

(subjunctive). The noun computer is not mentioned in the secondary adj. clause.

• We need a computor that works. We need a computer that is a working computer (antecedent).

• Necesitamos una computadora funcional (adjective- modifies computer).

Subordinated adjective clauses

• If the adjective clause expresses some kind of need or search for something then it must be presented with the subjunctive. Necesitamos una computadora que funcione. (subjunctive)

• If we have it or it is a definte (demonstrated by using a define article) then the indicative is use. Tenemos una computadora que funciona. Necesitamos la computadora que funciona. (indicative)

Adverbial Clauses

• There is no test to decide if there is an adverbial clause only an expression that must be memorized, a list of A and B where you must memorize B.

• When using an adverbial expression that could be followed by a subjunctive or indicative depends on a key temporal concept- anticipation.

• Consider anticipation to be the key word when deliberating about needing the subjunctive with adverbial expressions.

Adverbial ClausesList ‘A’ Always use the subjunctive after these expressions!

A menos que, a no ser que Unless

Antes de que Before

Como si (only uses the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive)**

As if

Con tal de que, siempre y cuando Provided that, as long as

El hecho de que (may find with indicative, but subj. is better because it is used in places where the speaker may imply doubt or ironic statement.)

The fact that

En caso de que In case (that)

Para que, a fin de que In order that

Sin que Without

Adverbial ClausesList ‘A’ Always use the subjunctive after these expressions!

• ** Ese chico corre como si naciera para ello.• That kid runs as if he were born for it. (present

indict./imperfect subjunctive)• ** Ese chico corría como si hubiera nacido

para ello.• That kid ran as if he had been born for it.

(imperfect indict./pluperfect subjunctive)

Adverbial ClausesList ‘B’ Sometimes use the subjunctive after these expressions!

A pesar de que Despite, in spite of

Acaso, tal vez, quizá Perhaps

Así que, Así como Such that

Aunque Although

Cuando When

De modo que, de manera que After

Después de que, luego que After

Hasta que Until

Mientras While

Por más que, por mucho que No matter how much

Siempre que As long as

Tam pronto como, en cuanto As soon as

Una vez que Once you have

Aunque

• Understanding of how attitude plays a part in why the subjunctive is used.

• Aunque Juan es rico, no lo parece. • Even though Jon is rich, he doesn’t seem to be.

(indicative by attitude or confidence)• Aunque Juan sea rico, no lo parece.• Although Jon may be rich, he doesn’t seem to be.

(subjunctive by attitude or confidence)*• *In English we might have used MAY to indicate

doubt.

Side note! Anticipation!

• An example of how to use the subjunctive when using anticipation:

• Yo iré al cine después de que Juan me llame.• I’ll go to the movies after Jon calls me. Jon’s call is anticipated.

The speaker states that he will go to the movies only after he gets the call from Juan. The subjunctive is required not because of attitude of speaker, but because anticipation is being expressed.

• You fui al cine después de que Juan me llamó. • I went to the movies after Jon called me. The speaker is

reporting what happened yesterday, no anticipation so the indicative is used.

Contrary to fact statements

• You must learn to recognize the difference between a cause and effect statement and a hypothetical one. Also known as a contrary to fact statement.

• Si manejas como loco, te pondrán una multa. If you drive like a maniac, they will give you a ticket. (cause and effect statement)

Contrary to fact statements

• Si manejaras como loco, te pondrían una multa. If you drove like a maniac, they would give you a ticket. (hypothetical statement)

• Imperfect subjunctive/conditional indicative• The imperfect subjunctive sets up the

hypothetical circumstance and the conditional shows the results.

Contrary to fact statements

• Remember how the phrase COMO SI always requires the imperfect subjunctive or the pluperfect subjunctive….they introduce hypothetical statements!!

• Trabaja como si la vida dependiera de ello. • He works as if his life depended on it.• Se veía como si hubiera visto un fantasma.• He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Contrary to fact statements

• Si hubieras manejado como loco, te habrían puesto una multa. If you had driven like a maniac, they would have given you a ticket.

• Pluperfect subjunctive/conditional perfect indicative

• The pluperfect subjunctive sets up the hypothetical circumstance and the conditional perfect shows the results. Or what would happened but never did.

Contrary to fact statements

• Remember that imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive are exclusively used in the IF clause and the conditional and conditional perfect indicative are used in the clause expressing the suspected result (what would happen or would have happened).