The Subjunctive
The Indicative Mr. Indicative If the indicative were to be a person, it would be a business man. As a person, the Indicative looks a bit like this, Mr. Straightforward. He is just a regular guy or normal guy .
What Is the Indicative? In general, the Indicative mood is used to refer to what is real and certain. It is used to talk about actions, events, or states that are believed to be facts or true. It is very typical in speech for making factual statements or describing obvious qualities of a person or situation.
Expressions that Trigger the Indicative: Pensar que To think that Saber que To know that Creer que To believe that No dudar que To not doubt that No hay duda de que There is no doubt that No negar que To not deny that Es verdad que It is true that Es cierto que It is certain/true that Es seguro que It is sure/certain that Estar seguro de que To be sure that Es obvio que It is obvious that Observar que To observe that
The Subjunctive Mr. Subjunctive The subjunctive is a spaced-out hippy, happily person in a world of unreality and uncertainty. He is always subjectively giving his hippy interpretation of reality and emotions, philosophizing all day long about hypothetical and interesting things that probably haven’t happened yet! Indicative = Mr. Normal Subjunctive = Hippy Dude
What Is the Subjunctive? In general, the subjunctive mood is subjective and possible (but not certain). It is used to talk about doubts, wishes, emotions, and other unknown and non-factual situations. It is commonly used in making recommendations, giving commands, and talking about how things make you feel.
Expressions that Trigger the Subjunctive: Wish, want, want you to Emotion Impersonal expression Recommendation Doubt, denial, disbelief, don’t know Ojalá
How Do You Conjugate in the Present Subjunctive? Start with present tense yo (-o) Add OPPOSITE ENDING: -AR -ER/-IR -e -a -es -as -emos -amos -en -an hablar habl e o comer com a o
Present Subjunctive (Yo form in present tense + opposite ending) (WEIRDO in the present + verb in the present subjunctive) Ex: I doubt (that) they are coming. Dudo que ellos vengan.
Subjunctive or Indicative ? 1. Espero que subjunctive 2. Dudo que subjunctive 3. Creen que indicative 4. Es probable que subjunctive 5. Es seguro que indicative 6. Niegas que subjunctive
The Imperfect / Past Subjunctive The same situations that trigger the subjunctive in the present tense will trigger the imperfect/past subjunctive. Everything on your WEIRDO handout will trigger the past subjunctive. The only difference is that the verb in the main clause will be conjugated in the past tense, imperfect or the conditional.
Past / Imperfect Subjunctive (ELLOS form of preterit (drop -aron/ -ieron) + ara, aras, ara, aramos, aran) iera, ieras, iera, ieramos, ieran WEIRDO in the past tense + Verb in the past subjunctive ) Ex: I doubted (that) they were coming. Dudaba que ellos vinieran.
The Past / Imperfect Subjunctive Start with preterit tense ellos, and drop (-aron/-ieron) Add ENDING: -AR -ER/IR -ara -iera -aras -ieras - aramos - ieramos -aran -ieran hablar habl ara aron comer com iera ieron
Present Subjunctive or Past Subjunctive? 1.Quiero que 2. Yo le recomendé que 3. Dudo que 4. Era importante que 5. Quería que 6. Es importante que 7. Me alegro de que 8. Me alegraba Past subjunctive Present subjunctive Past subjunctive Past subjunctive Present subjunctive Present subjunctive Past subjunctive