303-466-8830

For Inquiries, Call:

303-466-8830

#324 – Grammar, back to the subjunctive – Part 4

Corporate Spanish Trainer

Grammar, back to the subjunctive – Part 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post 324/365
Es martes el 13 de febrero de 2018

Review Posts – el Subjuntivo

Parte 1 – tenses and moods

Parte 2 – endings and uses

Parte 3 –  endings and uses

Hola,

¡Muy buenos días!

Vamos a regresar al subjuntivo. ¡Hoy vamos a divertirnos mucho!

 

Let’s take 5 parts and string them together to make great sentences with the subjunctive.

1. People

Mi esposo/a
Mis amigos
Mi hijo/a
Mi jefe
Uds.

2. A verb that shows wish or desire

esperar – to hope
querer – to want
desear – to want
preferir – to prefer

3. the connecting work ‘que’

que – that

4. A change of subject from the above ‘People’

yo

5. A verb in the subjunctive

cantar – to sing
cenar – to have dinner
comprender – to understand
aprender – to learn
escribir – to write
sufrir – to suffer
mirar – to watch
ayudar – to help
preguntar – to ask
leer – to read

Now connect an element from each group

A. Mis amigos quieren que yo cene con ellos el viernes.

B. Mi jefe espera que yo escriba un reporte.

C. Mi hijo prefiere que yo mire una película con él.

D. (Tú) esperas que yo te ayude el sábado.

E. ¿Quieren Uds. que yo pregunte a ellos?

F. Mi novio espera que yo no sufra de la gripe.

G. Mi amiga desea que yo lea su mensaje.

Take extra note of:

a. the highlighted verbs: -ar verbs use –er endings and -er/-ir verbs use an -ar ending

b. the change of subject between the 2 parts of the sentence

c. the separation of the 2 parts with the word ‘que’

 

Next, let’s learn a little something about other verbs in the subjunctive – irregular verbs

1. the word ‘hay‘ becomes ‘haya

 

Hay comida
¡Espero que haya comida!

 

2. stem-changing verbs in the groups of e-ie, o-ue and e-i

These have the same stem-change as the present indicative

cerrar – to close (e-ie)

¿Quieres que cierre la puerta? – Do you want me to close the door? (Do you want that I close the door?)

resolver – to resolve (o-ue)

Espero que resuelvan el problema. – I hope (that) they resolve the problem.

pedir – to order (e-i)

María quiere que le pidas una margarita y dos tacos.  – María wants (that) you to order her a margarita and 2 tacos.

 

 

3. talking about the same stem-changing verbs as above, in the indicative they do NOT stem-change in the ‘nosotros’ form, however, in the subjunctive the -ir verbs in these groups change in the ‘nosotros’ form. Happily there are not many, but they are high frequency.

Ejemplos:

preferir – changes e-i in nosotros

dormir – changes o-u in nosotros

morir – changes o-u in nosotros

pedir – changes e-i in nosotros

seguir – changes e-i in nosotros

Ellos esperan que nosotros…

…prefiramos ir al otro restaurante

…durmamos bien

…no muramos de hambre

…pidamos el cebiche

…sigamos las instrucciones

 

Action steps: Read the examples above. Create some of your own. Take the subjunctive little by little in small bites.

Déjame un comentario.

Gracias y hasta mañana,
Carolina

 

 

Previous

Next