Present Subjunctive Forms

Kurz erklärt

The present subjunctive has its own set of verb forms. For most verbs, begin with the present-tense yo form, remove the final -o, and add the opposite vowel endings: -ar verbs use e, while -er and -ir verbs use a. These forms are the same across Latin America, where ustedes is used instead of vosotros.

Bildung

yo form minus -o + endings: hablar -> hable, hables, hable, hablemos, hablen; comer -> coma, comas, coma, comamos, coman; vivir -> viva, vivas, viva, vivamos, vivan. Many irregular yo stems remain: tener -> tenga, hacer -> haga, conocer -> conozca. Common fully irregular forms include sea, esté, vaya, haya, sepa, and dé.

Verwendung

• Use the appropriate ending for the subject; él, ella, and usted share one form, while ellos, ellas, and ustedes share another.
• Keep normal present-tense stem changes in most forms: pensar -> piense and poder -> pueda.
• With many -ir verbs, the nosotros form also changes: sentir -> sintamos and dormir -> durmamos.
• Spelling changes preserve pronunciation: buscar -> busque, llegar -> llegue, and empezar -> empiece.

Beispiele

• Espero que tengas un buen día. — I hope you have a good day.
• Es posible que lleguemos tarde. — It is possible that we will arrive late.
• No creo que ellos puedan venir. — I don’t think they can come.
• La profesora quiere que ustedes practiquen más. — The teacher wants you all to practice more.

Typischer Fehler

❌ Espero que tú tienes tiempo.

✅ Espero que tú tengas tiempo.

English often uses an ordinary present form in this kind of sentence, but Spanish requires the present subjunctive form tengas here.

Merke

Start from the yo form and switch the ending vowel. Learn the short group of fully irregular forms separately.