Despite its reputation, the Spanish subjunctive isn’t that bad.
But, it can be avoided and should be avoided if you’re not yet conversational in Spanish.
I have published over 200 articles on Real Fast Spanish, but I haven’t written anything on the Spanish subjunctive.
The reason(s) I haven’t spoken about the subjunctive thus far is because:
- There is a lot of Spanish to learn and understand before you learn the subjunctive.
- The subjunctive is difficult and an unnecessary distraction for beginners and intermediates.
- You don’t need it to be conversational.
This third idea is principally what Real Fast Spanish is based upon. It’s about reducing the mental load of learning Spanish by cutting out all non-essential grammar and vocabulary so you can converse in Spanish sooner.
There are, however, some things I would love to share with you that will help you avoid the subjunctive and improve your accuracy while developing your skills using the essential vocabulary and grammar introduced in the conversation hacking guide.
You can read this post in two ways: as an introduction to the subjunctive, or as a guide to avoid it by simply restructuring how you express a few certain ideas.
In other words, if the Spanish subjunctive worries you, in this post, you’ll learn how you can avoid the Spanish subjunctive entirely.
What is the subjunctive?
Before we get to Spanish, we first need to ask: what is the subjunctive in general?
The subjunctive mood is a behavior of verb conjugations that often tells us something about the speaker’s beliefs or certainty about a given situation.
In English, the subjunctive mood does occur, we just don’t know about it.
We aren’t aware of it because, firstly, they don’t teach it to us in schools, and secondly, and even more importantly, often it doesn’t do anything to the conjugation of the verb.
For example,
I recommend that you try the burritos.
Here, the English verb conjugation ‘you try’ is in the subjunctive mood.
But, you wouldn’t know about it because it appears in this sentence like it would in any other sentence.
For example, in the following sentence, ‘you try’ is in the normal (indicative) mood:
If you try the burritos, you will love them!
This is because ‘if’ statements like this don’t require the subjunctive mood.
In contrast, I could say,
I recommend that he try the burritos.
Here we can notice the subjunctive mood in action because the usual verb conjugation that we expect to hear is ‘he tries’.
And, it is this change from ‘he tries’ to ‘he try’ that tells us that the subjunctive mood is in effect.
But, while English does have the subjunctive, we generally don’t notice it because the above situation doesn’t happen often.
Moreover, in the modern use of the English language, lots of English natives will still say ‘he tries’ in the above example.
So, how is the Spanish subjunctive different?
What is the Spanish subjunctive?
Just like the English subjunctive, the Spanish subjunctive is a grammatical mood that a speaker will use to indicate their attitude towards ideas around desire, uncertainty, possibility, opinions etc.
However, unlike English, the use of the subjunctive in Spanish is far more apparent.
This is because every single verb conjugation in the Spanish subjunctive mood is different from the normal (indicative) mood.
This means there are two main challenges with using the Spanish subjunctive mood:
- knowing when to use it
- knowing the subjunctive conjugation of every verb
That said, as I mentioned at the start of the post, if you want to, you can completely avoid the subjunctive when you are speaking Spanish.
But, in order to do so, you first need to learn a little bit about the subjunctive, such as when it is likely to occur, so you can avoid it.
Subjunctive triggers: when do you need the subjunctive mood?
Similar to triggers for the pretérito imperfecto, or triggers for the pretérito indefinido, there are trigger phrases that signal you need to use Spanish subjunctive.
A simple example, that will lead to the first technique below, is the following phrase:
Puede que… (It could be…)
This phrase is similar to ‘es posible que…’ or ‘es probable que…’, all of which describe the likelihood of an event or an idea.
All three of these phrases are Spanish subjunctive triggers. This means whenever you use them, you have to follow the phrase with a verb in the subjunctive mood.
For example:
English: It’s possible that she has time to see me today.
Español: Es posible que ella tenga tiempo para verme hoy.
In this example, you can see the third-person subjunctive conjugation of the Spanish verb tener, which is tenga.
You can, however, express this idea in almost exactly the same way without the subjunctive mood, which leads to technique number 1.
1. How to avoid the subjunctive when talking about probable ideas
The first technique to avoid the Spanish subjunctive is to replace all statements of probability, such as es posible que… or es probable que… or puede que…, with:
A lo mejor… (Maybe…)
This phrase is great because it replaces the other three seamlessly but doesn’t trigger the subjunctive mood.
Let’s look at our example from earlier:
English: Maybe she has time to see me today.
Español: A lo mejor ella tiene tiempo para verme hoy.
Here is another example, instead of:
English: It could be that you are right.
Español: Puede que tengas razón.
Replace the puede que… with a lo mejor:
English: Maybe you are right.
Español: A lo mejor tienes razón.
So for technique number 1, whenever you want to make a statement of probability and you can’t remember the subjunctive conjugation, you can simply use a lo mejor to express an identical idea in the indicative mood.
2. How to avoid the subjunctive when you are uncertain about something
Next on the list of tricks to avoid the subjunctive mood is a simple sentence reshuffle.
If you aren’t certain about something, you could use sentences like:
No creo que… (I don’t think/believe that…)
No pienso que… (I don’t think that…)
But, these phrases both trigger the Spanish subjunctive mood.
All you have to do to avoid the subjunctive is to make a small change by relocating the position of ‘no’ in the sentence.
For example, you’ll need the subjunctive in the following sentence:
English: I don’t think that the prices are cheap here.
Español: No creo que los precios sean baratos aquí.
Instead, if you move the location of ‘no’ to after the que you can use ser in the normal mood again:
English: I think that the prices aren’t cheap here.
Español: Creo que los precios no son baratos aquí.
It is only a small change to say ‘I think that (negative idea)…’ instead of ‘I don’t think that (positive idea)…’, and it will allow you to speak with grammatical accuracy while avoiding the subjunctive.
Here is another example:
English: I don’t think that he remembers me.
Español: No pienso que me recuerde.
Move the ‘no’ to after the que to get:
English: I think that he doesn’t remember me.
Español: Pienso que no me recuerda.
3. How to avoid the subjunctive when talking about your desires
As well as uncertainty, a desire or longing for something triggers the subjunctive. However, unlike the previous category, it doesn’t matter whether you state your desires in the positive or the negative, both require the subjunctive.
But, the trick to be aware of with desires is that you’ll need the subjunctive when your sentence has two clauses.
In other words, if your statement of desire has two clauses separated by a ‘that’, you’ll need to use the subjunctive mood for the verb in the second clause.
For example,
English: I hope that we finish our work before sunset.
Español: Espero que terminemos nuestro trabajo antes de la puesta del sol.
If you can rearrange the sentence to remove the que, you can avoid the subjunctive. E.g:
English: We hope to finish our work before sunset.
Español: Esperamos terminar nuestro trabajo antes de la puesta del sol.
Another example,
English: I would like that we see each other soon.
Español: Me gustaría que nos veamos pronto.
Again, see if you can remove the que which allows you to use the verb, previously after the que, in its infinitive form:
English: I would like to see each other soon.
Español: Me gustaría vernos pronto.
4. How to avoid the subjunctive with impersonal expressions
Referred to as valoración or constatación in Spanish, impersonal expressions are those like:
Es importante que… (It’s important that…)
Es cierto que… (It’s certain that…)
Es normal que… (It’s normal that…)
Está claro que… (It’s clear that…)
Es triste que… (It’s sad that…)
With these expressions, you have to be careful because the choice of preceding adjective will tell you whether the verb in the second clause of the sentence will need to be subjunctive.
For the above five examples, and from what you have already read, which do you think trigger the subjunctive and which don’t?
The adjectives that call for the subjunctive are importante, normal, and triste.
So, the key takeaway here, if you are going to make statements like this, aim for certainty:
English: It’s certain that it is a good idea.
Español: Es cierto que es una buena idea.
English: It’s clear that we are going in the wrong direction.
Español: Está claro que vamos en la dirección equivocada.
5. How to avoid the subjunctive in sequence-based sentences
Probably the strangest trigger for the subjunctive to be aware of is time-based sequences.
Despite having zero uncertainty, when you describe a sequence of events with antes de que or después de que, you have to use the subjunctive.
To avoid the subjunctive, in a similar way to the sentences on desire, simply remove the que and try to get an infinitive verb into the sentence.
For example, instead of:
English: Before you leave, tidy up your room.
Español: Antes de que te vayas, recoge la habitación.
You can remove the que, and replace te vayas with irte:
English: Before leaving, tidy up your room.
Español: Antes de irte, recoge la habitación.
Another example,
English: After we eat, we’ll go to the ice cream parlor.
Español: Después de que comamos, vamos a la heladería.
Again, remove que and replace the verb with its infinitive form:
English: After eating, we’ll go to the ice cream parlor.
Español: Después de comer, vamos a la heladería.
So when should you learn the Spanish subjunctive?
This post is intended to be an overview of how to avoid the Spanish subjunctive. But, it also works as a reasonable introduction to the topic as you will now be aware of a few areas where the subjunctive commonly occurs.
If you can communicate in Spanish, without the need to change to English, and you want to continue to improve, then now is the time to learn the subjunctive mood.
If, on the other hand, you struggle at times to find the words to describe straightforward ideas or ask simple questions, then you need to focus on learning foundational vocabulary.
If I could start learning Spanish from scratch again, I wouldn’t have focused on the subjunctive as early as I did. I was too focused on knowing everything and being ‘fluent’ as quickly as I could.
I have talked previously about my disillusion with the word ‘fluency‘ because it implies a level of perfection that means you need to focus on knowing everything all at once.
Instead, I believe that the order you learn Spanish theory matters a great deal and you should focus first on simply being able to communicate.
A conversational level doesn’t require a perfect use of the subjunctive or any other tense, it simply comes from knowing a solid knowledge of foundational vocabulary and grammar such that you can describe things in a roundabout way.
Once you reach this point, then it is time to level up your skills. If you can hold a conversation then you will want to refine the ideas that you can express with a more expansive vocabulary and a better control of grammar.
Your turn
It’s your turn to use some of the theory in this post to improve your Spanish skills.
See if you can find some time this week to put some of the sentence reshuffles on your “to practice” list. Try to go out and see how you can express desires, judgments or probability without the subjunctive.
How else can you avoid the Spanish subjunctive mood?
Thank you for the article. Very clear differences and uses are explained. I’m converationally fluid and I still hesitate with the subjunctive mood.
Thanks for your comment. If you are conversationally fluent, then now is the time to start bringing the subjunctive mood into your regular conversations. The rules in the post are a good place to start. Good luck!
Andrew, all your ‘lessons’ are excellent. But this was brilliant. With thanks for your ongoing passion and generosity, muchas gracias, Andrea
¡Gracias Andrea! Thanks for the encouraging words. I’m glad you liked the article!
Another excellent succinct article. I have just started learning the subjunctive and your article serves as a very useful consolidation and reinforcement. Thank you, Andrew.
Thanks for the feedback Norman!! 🙂
I’ve been struggling with the Spanish Subjunctive Mood for months without realizing that I can easily avoid it or at least reduce its use by means of some structures and expressions I know very well. Thanks a lot for making me see that!
Hola Alicja, yes absolutely, if you have been struggling with it, you can avoid it altogether! Thanks for the feedback!!
Thanks for your approach Andrew your help on going forward is always
so useful.
Thanks for the comment David!
Just a couple of thoughts on the subject:
I actually like the subjunctive mood in French, and wish I’d learnt it much earlier. I’m not yet fully confident in Spanish, but I feel I want to learn it earlier rather than later, and this is my reasoning: my French lower advanced class are terrified of the subjunctive, even though they have all been learning – and speaking – French for many years. The UK school method of never teaching anyone below A-level the subjunctive makes it feel horribly scary – and advanced – and I will be into my second year of trying to provide subjunctive-friendly lessons come January. (I’ve just given them a term’s break…) So I’m looking at introducing it earlier rather than later for lower classes – and thus also learning it properly myself in Spanish. But the avoidance techniques are nevertheless most welcome, and I think help the whole concept of when the subjunctive mood becomes useful. Once again, thanks for a great article, Andrew.
Thanks for the comment Sylvia. Yes, you can definitely think of this article as either “avoidance techniques” or “an introduction to the subjunctive” because once you have mastered the “avoidance techniques” you will know exactly when the subjunctive is likely to occur.
In terms of when to teach the subjunctive, the way I think about the importance of Spanish theory is as follows:
1. Easy & important
2. Hard & important
3. Easy & not important
4. Hard & not important
What constitutes “easy”, “hard”, “important” and “not important” is potentially subjective. But, for me, the subjunctive fits into category 4 (hard and not important) so it will always be something that I prioritise much lower when I’m working with Spanish students. I would much prefer the students master material that goes into categories 1, 2, 3 (e.g. ser vs estar, por vs para, negation, asking questions, general vocabulary, direct and indirect objects, verbs like gustar, reflexive verbs, the past tenses… etc.) because this material will most efficiently add to a students ability to communicate effectively and confidently, and reduce the mental load of dealing with multiple moods and tenses.
The theory behind your article is as fascinating as the article itself. When I took Spanish in high school and college, we actually learned the subjunctive rather early. Why? I realize now it’s because it was easily testable on paper exams…when to use it, and conjugate it correctly.
Now, as I’m actually trying to learn Spanish to be useful (conversational), my language immersion school and online learning tools teach it much deeper into the programs. We focus on conversations.
Every once in a while I get a pause, or a “look,” from my native Spanish speaking partner, and I’ll realize “that was a place for the subjunctive and I didn’t use it.” But he or she realizes I’m not using the subjunctive regularly, and we still understand each other, and the conversation continues seamlessly. I try to make a note of it and use the phrase or “rule” with the subjunctive before we end the conversation.
Thank you for the informative article.
Russ
Thanks for the feedback Russ! 🙂 Yes, the key is to focus on what you need at each stage of learning and until you can confidently hold a conversation in Spanish, the subjunctive can be a distraction. But, then once you can hold a conversation, then it’s a good idea to take your conversations to the next level by learning more advanced tenses and structures such as the subjunctive.
Thanks Andrew – really excellect presentation of what for me is a difficult area. Your article is really clear and a wonderful learning tool. Gracias!
¡De nada! Thanks for the kind words Jim! I’m glad the article helped!!
A quick question, i’m learning slowly and have used creo que no but non of my teachers have ever mentioned I need the subjunctive. So would I still be understood or is it better to avoid using it totally? Also great article
Many thanks
Hola Lisa, if you say “creo que no…”, this doesn’t need the subjunctive, so you will be fine with this phrase. It’s when we say “no creo que…” where the “no” goes at the start that we need it. But, even if you say this and don’t use the subjunctive, you will still be understood by Spanish natives, it will just sound a little strange.
Hola, Andrew….clear and helpful as usual!
I realize that gerunds are not as common in Spanish as in English, but if instead of “antes de que correr…” I said “antes de corriendo, siempre me ‘stretch/warm-up’ etc).”, would I be understood / understood but thought of as doing ‘gringo-speak’/ get weird looks?
Thanks
Yes, you’re right, if you said “antes de corriendo”, you would get weird looks because this phrase doesn’t work at all in Spanish, it sounds really wrong. The equivalent of “running” in the phrase “before running” is “antes de correr”, so you really have to stick to the infinitive verb in Spanish in this phrase.
Esta es una excelente idea. Ahora mi uso del subjuntivo se limitará a “Que tengas un buen día.”
Muy bien, gracias David 🙂
This is brilliant. It ‘s a good guide in how to think Spanish and do away with direct translation from English.
Thanks for the feedback Linds! 🙂
Hi,
This is a “where does this word come from” question.
I was watching your video on traer and llevar and in one scenario you mention movie tickets (entradas). I was taught the word was boleto for ticket, Is boleto slang, regional or just another word for the same thing like subway, underground, or tube?
mike
Hola Mike, yes, your example about the subway was perfect. We could find “boleto”, “billete” or “entrada” in different contexts all with the meaning “ticket” in English.
Gracias por este articulo. Es muy útil.
¡De nada! Gracias a ti Priscilla por tu comentario 🙂
First of all, great article and I understand your thinking on this.
I have been speaking French to my francophone husband for nearly 40 years and I still don’t have the subjunctive clear yet in French. I am doing both Spanish and French on Duolingo and interestingly I am at the level in both courses that I should and would like to nail this down. Interestingly, I find that I understand more from your explanations of Spanish on this forum than I have ever understood from anything that I have ever seen regarding French… kudos to you!
I also understand that you at least speak if not teach French, so my question is, “Can I think of the subjunctive in the same way in French as you have so eloquently explained it here regarding Spanish?
Thanks for the kind words George and the feedback! We can build our knowledge of the Spanish subjunctive and the French subjunctive in a similar way. In other words, the learning process is pretty much the same. But, we need to be careful that while there is a lot of overlap between the Spanish and French subjunctive, it’s not perfect. There are times when French will use the subjunctive but not Spanish and vice-versa.
Andrew,
Creo que su artículo es muy útil y lo guardaré para uso futuro.
Muchas gracias por otro artículo muy claro.
Estoy muy en deuda contigo.
Christine
Gracias Christine
Excellent information and hacks. Thank you. I have come across the subjunctive and noted the verb changes but hadn’t realised it was the subjunctive case! I think the best example of the subjunctive in English is the use of “were” in place of “was” when talking about something you wish would happen. The best example is probably “If I were a rich man”. Generally, unless they remember the song, people will tend to say “If I was a rich man”, which always sounds strange to me. I imagine similar mistakes in Spanish will sound even worse, because the subjunctive is used correctly in general conversation.
Thanks Peter, yes, that’s right! Since we don’t regularly use the subjunctive in English, English natives can be confused about which conjugation to use. But, in contrast, for the Spanish language, the subjunctive is much more common and natives will rarely make mistakes with its use.