Learn the subjunctive irregulars, then come back and review with audio flash cards and the Lingo Dingo.
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The irregular subjunctives are the same as the Ud./Uds. irregular commands you already learned except here they are conjugated for each person. Like the commands, there are 3 sets of irregular verbs. It’s good to go through these verbs enough so that they become second nature and you don’t even have to think as you conjugate them. That’s the key to true fluency.
AR Subjunctive Endings
-a | -amos |
-as | -áis |
-a | -an |
ER IR Subjunctive Endings
-e | -emos |
-es | -éis |
-e | -en |
First we’ll look at a group of 18 irregulars. With 15 of the 18 of these, to get the stem, you take the “yo” present tense form, then put on the opposite endings. For example, the “yo” present tense form of “to have” is “tengo”, then you just take off the “o” and put on the opposite endings. Let’s take a look at the first 15 that follow this rule.
tener | tenga | venir | venga | valer | valga | These last 3 don’t follow the “yo” present tense rule. They are simply irregular. There’s no rule for them. You’ll simply have to memorize them. |
hacer | haga | salir | salga | saber | sepa | |
poner | ponga | conducir | conduzca | ir | vaya | |
traducir | traduzca | decir | diga | ser | sea | |
traer | traiga | oír | oiga | ver | vea |
Now if we use “tenga” as an example, and conjugate it out fully for each person, it would be “tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan”. All the other verbs are the same. The rule of taking the “yo” form of the present tense conjugation to find the stem also applies to this second group of irregular verbs. These are stem-changing verb that you learned back in present tense. Let’s take a look at these:
e-ie | o-ue | ||
cerrar | cierre | be able (poder) | pueda |
As you can see, “cerrar” become “cierre”. Let’s conjugate that out “cierre, cierres, cierre, cerremos, cerréis, and cierren”. Did you notice that the “nosotros” and “vosotros” forms didn’t use the stem changes. Remember, “nosotros” likes to stay regular as much as possible. The only exception is “preferir” which becomes “prefiramos”.
The same is true with o to ue. Let’s conjugate out poder so you can see how it works: “pueda, puedas, pueda, podamos, podáis, puedan”. Again, the “nosotros” likes to stay regular and not use the stem changes. The only exceptions are “muramos” and “durmamos”.
e-ie | o-ue | ||
close (cerrar) | cierre | remember (recordar) | recuerde |
feel (sentir) | sienta | be able (poder) | pueda |
start (empezar) | empiece | count (contar) | cuente |
lose (perder) | pierda | show (mostrar) | muestre |
prefer (preferir) | prefiera | eat lunch (almorzar) | almuerce |
require (requerir) | requiera | find (encontrar) | encuentre |
start (comenzar) | comience | move (mover) | mueva |
think (pensar) | piense | play (jugar) | juegue |
understand (entender) | entienda | return an item (devolver) | devuelva |
want (querer) | quiera | return (volver) | vuelva |
recommend (recomendar) | recomiende | sleep (dormir) | duerma |
die (morir) | muera |
Now let’s look at e to i stem changers and i to y stem changers. With these verbs, the nosotros follows the pattern.
e-i | i-y | ||
ask for (pedir) | pida | destroy (destruir) | destruya |
follow (seguir) | siga | include (incluir) | incluya |
get (conseguir) | consiga | ||
repeat (repetir) | repita | ||
serve (server) | sirva |
Let’s look at two of them so you can see what I mean. First we’ll look at the verb pedir: “pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidáis, pidan”.
Now we’ll look at destruir: “destruya, destruyas, destruya, destruyamos, destruyáis, destruyan”.
Now we’ll look at the third and final group of irregulars. Like the commands, they are only irregular in spelling. Please see the “commands” section for more on exactly why we do the spelling changes. The spelling changes are consistent through each person. For example, let’s look at the subjunctive conjugation of “pagar” – pague, pagues, pague, paguemos, paguéis, paguen. Here’s a chart of irregulars to look at and become familiar with.
Spelling Changes
-gar to gue | -car to que | -zar to ce | |||
pagar | pague | practicar | practique | empezar | empiece |
entregar | entregue | buscar | busque | comenzar | comience |
pegar | pegue | explicar | explique | almorzar | almuerce |
llegar | llegue | sacar | saque | ||
jugar | juegue | tocar | toque |
Finally, there are 2 verbs that are irregular in the fact that they need accents. The verb “dar” and “estar” and notice where the accents go.
Dar – to give
dé | demos |
des | deis |
dé | den |
Estar – to be
esté | estemos |
estés | estéis |
esté | estén |
You’ve now learned the all the subjunctive irregulars. There are a lot here and we recommend going through this lesson a few times to become really familiar with them.
Spanish Review
he doubts that you (Sra. Palma) have | duda que tenga |
we want him to do it | queremos que lo haga |
you (Sr. Bustos) like her to bring | le gusta que traiga |
it's important that I translate | es importante que traduzca |
they need us to bring | necesitan que traigamos |
you (Anna) prefer that they come | prefieres que vengan |
it's hard for you (Javier) to drive | es dificil que conduzcas |
he hopes you all will say | espera que digan |
he doesn't believe I value | no cree que valga |
it's necessary for you to know (Sra. Lagos) | es necesario que sepa |
you ask me to go | pide que vaya |
you all insist that she be | insisten que sea |
without us seeing | sin que veamos |
it's possible they'll close | es posible que cierren |
I don't think we can | no creo que podamos |
so that she feels | para que sienta |
before you all begin | antes que empiecen |
hopefully we'll eat lunch | ojalá que almorcemos |
as long as you (Sr. Ruiz) find | con tal de que encuentre |
you doubt that he'll move | duda que mueva |
you all want us to play | quieren que juguemos |
they like you (Sra. Jiménez) to ask | les gusta que pida |
it's important that you all follow | es importante que sigan |
I need them to get/obtain | necesito que consigan |
she prefers you (Nora) to repeat | prefiere que repitas |
you (Dario) tell me to sirve | me dices que sirva |
its hard for her to destroy | es dificil que destruya |
he asks you (Lidia) to arrive | pide que llegues |
hopefully he'll play | ojala que juegue |
without her practicing | sin que practique |
it's possible that I'll search for | es posible que busque |
they don't think that we explain | no piensan que expliquemos |
before you all touch | antes de que toquen |