The use of the subjunctive mood in the dependent clause

To use the subjunctive mood in the dependent clause, there are three criteria which must be met. If any of the conditions are not met, the indicative mood is used.

Conditions:

  1. There must be a dependent clause (a "que" clause) - Cláusula dependiente.
  2. There must be a change of subject - cambio de sujeto.
  3. There must be a special verb in the independent clause - verbo que requiere el subjuntivo.

Verbs: certain verbs that express: wishes, doubt, hopes, emotions, preferences and commands require that the subjunctive be used in the verb which follows "que". (the dependent clause)

I. Wishes (Deseos): querer (want), desear (to wish), esperar (to hope).

II. Verbs of causation: preferir (prefer), insistir en (to insist), pedir (to ask), rogar (to beg), suplicar (to ask for, beg), prohibir (to prohibit), decir (to say, tell), escribir (to write).

III. Emotions (Emociones): temer (to be afraid), tener miedo de (to be afraid of), alegrarse de (to be happy), estar contento/triste de(to be happy/sad).

IV. Doubt (Duda): dudar (to doubt), negar (to deny, refuse), no es cierto (not certain), no estar seguro (not be sure).

The subjunctive is the mood of doubt that something is or will be a fact. It expresses how a person feels about a possible action or state of being. It expresses a wish, intent or command for a possible action or state of being. It is usually used in subordinate clauses that begin with que or si, although in some sentences (such as simple sentences expressing doubt), a subjunctive verb can be the main verb in the sentence.

The subjunctive has four tenses:

  1. present subjunctive
  2. present perfect subjunctive
  3. imperfect subjunctive
  4. past perfect (or pluperfect) subjunctive

Generally, the subjunctive is used in dependent clauses, the tense of the subjunctive depends on the tense of the verb in the main clause.

Back to Jackson Foreign Language Spanish Grammar Exercises