7
We shall begin our study of the subjunctive mood with the present subjunctive tense. The other
tenses of the subjunctive verb system will be taken up later. To generate the yo form of the
present subjunctive tense, we begin with the first person singular form (=yo) of the present
indicative: for example, for tener we would begin with tengo, for hablar with hablo, for escribir
with escribo, etc. Then we take off the final -o: teng-, habl-, escrib-, etc.
Next, we consider the infinitive of the verb, whether it ends in -AR, -ER, or -IR. If the verb ends
in -AR, we attach an -e to the form; if it ends in -ER or in -IR, we attach an a: tenga, hable,
escriba, etc. To generate the other forms of the verb (tú, ella, él, etc.), we conjugate the yo form
as we would any present tense verb.
Here, then, are all six forms of hablar, comer and vivir in the present subjunctive tense:
yo hable yo coma yo viva
tú hables tú comas tú vivas
ella, él, Ud. hable ella, él, Ud. coma ella, él, Ud. viva
nosotros/as hablemos nosotros/as comamos nosotros/as vivamos
vosotras/os habléisvosotras/os comáis vosotras/os viváis
ellas/os hablen ellas/os coman ellas/os vivan
Note: the forms for the first person singular (yo)and the third person singular (ella, él, Ud.) are
the same. The pronoun is used whenever necessary to avoid confusion.
Important: do not try to form the present subjunctive from the infinitive. This will not work for
any verb with an irregular first person (and there are many such verbs: tener-tengo-tenga; salir-
salgo-salga, are two examples).
Irregular present subjunctive forms.
There are six verbs whose present subjunctive forms are not generated according to the rule set
out above. (They are verbs whose yo form in the indicative does not end in -o: soy, doy, estoy,
voy, sé and he.) These irregular forms must be memorized. If you learn just the yo form of these
verbs you will be able to generate the rest of the conjugation:
ser sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean
dar dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den
estar esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén
ir vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan
saber sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan
haber haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan
Radical Changing Verbs and the Present Subjunctive.
Radical changing verbs with -AR and -ER endings have subjunctive forms derived from the rules
just outlined above, but radical changing verbs ending in -IR show a change in the nosotros/as and
vosotras/os forms that warrants mentioning. Verbs like sentir (ie, i), seguir(i,i), and dormir
(ue,u) have the following forms in the present subjunctive. The changes characteristic of the
present subjunctive have been underlined in the nosotras/os and vosotros/as forms: