El concepto
del subjuntivo
Tenses and moods:
In a sentence, the verb is a word or group of words that identifies the action. A verb is characterized by its tense and its mood.
In English, the subjunctive is used only rarely:
|
Indicative |
Subjunctive |
|
You are late. |
It is important that you be on time. |
|
I am in school. |
I wish I were on vacation. |
|
Paul speaks English. |
The teacher insists that he speak Spanish in class. |
In Spanish, however, the subjunctive is used frequently. As in English, it generally occurs in dependent clauses – that is, in clauses that cannot stand alone and are connected to the main or independent clause:
|
Main clause |
Dependent clause |
|
Sugiero... |
que
Ud. sea más puntual. |
|
(I suggest... |
that you be more punctual.) |
The Indicative and the Subjunctive:
Compare the use of the indicative and the subjuntive in the following sentences:
|
Indicative |
Subjunctive |
|
Tomás
no trabaja. |
Es
importante que trabaje. |
|
Creo
que es perezoso. |
Dudo
que sea trabajador. |
|
Sé
que limpia su coche. |
Quiero que limpie su cuarto
también. |
The indicative mood is objective. It is used to describe
facts. It states what is
considered to be certain. It is the
mood of what is.
The subjunctive mood is subjective. It is used to express feelings, judgments and emotions relating to and action. It states what is considered to be desirable, possible, doubtful, uncertain, and so on. It is the mood of what may or might be.
Both the indicative and the subjunctive may occur in a dependent clause introduced by que. The choice between the indicative and subjunctive depends on what is expressed by the verb in the main clause.
|
Main clause |
Dependent clause |
|
Statement of fact or belief |
Indicative |
|
Statement of will, necessity or obligation, emotion or feeling, doubt, possibility |
Subjunctive |