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.
Tú
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
