HOW TO SAY THE SPANISH SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

IN ENGLISH

The Spanish subjunctive mood is a kind of magic box holding many

meanings and shades of meanings. The subjunctive mood as such is
very seldom used in modern English. We can find it in certain ritual
expressions (God save the Queen, The Lord be with you) and in
American English (It isn’t necessary that he speak). In English we use
the indicative mood in many cases that a subjunctive is used in
Spanish. But there are also other constructions. Let’s look at them.

1) With Spanish verbs like intentar, lograr, conseguir, procurar,

hacer que, etc. it is possible to use a que-clause with a different
subject and a subjunctive. In English, however, we have to re-
phrase the sentence, usually with make or get (have in
American English)
Intentamos que vinieran antes ► We tried to get them to come earlier
Procuraremos que nos ayuden ► We will try to have them help us
¿Lograste que se fuesen? ► Did you make them go away /
Did you manage to make them go away
No conseguimos que cantasen ► We couldn’t get them to sing
Hicieron que nos desnudásemos ► They made us take our clothes off

2) There is another set of verbs (suggest, recommend, request,

demand, insist) after which we can use either a form of the
present (which is a throwback to an old subjunctive form, as
we can see from the fact that there is no final –s in the 3 rd
person singular) or should.
She suggested that the dog stay / should stay in the garden
 She demanded that the children make / should make less noise

3) We will come across other expressions followed by should

where in Spanish a subjunctive construction would be used.
Usually these are cases in which the action referred to is
nebulous, improbable, or hypothetical.
It is difficult to imagine why anybody should feel oppressed
He put the documents in the bank for fear that someone should try to steal them

TRANSLATE

1 Antes de que venga, lo habré terminado.

Before he comes, I will have finished it

2 Me alegro mucho de que usted haya venido.

I am very happy that you have come

3 Ella me pidió que me quedara.

She asked me to stay

4 A ellos les gustaría que trabajáramos más.

They would like us to work harder

5 Ellos se levantaron para que nosotros nos sentáramos.

They stood up so that we could sit down

6 Trajeron el balón para que los niños jugaran.

They brought the ball for the children to play

7 Puede que vengan.

They may come

8 Puede que lo hayan hecho.

They may have done it
9 Es preciso que vengas en seguida.
You must come at once

10 No hace falta que hables en público.

You needn’t talk / don’t need to talk in public

11 Si él viniera, se lo diríamos.
If he came, we would tell him

12 Si telefoneara, pregúntale a qué hora vendrá.

If he should phone, ask him what time he will come

13 Ojalá ella viniera con nosotros.

I wish she would come with us

14 Ojalá ella hubiera llegado a tiempo.

I wish she had arrived in time

15 Por mucho que trabaje, nunca será rico.

However much he Works, he will never be rich

16 Haga lo que haga, ella siempre se disgusta conmigo.

Whatever I do, she always gets annoyed with me

17 Vaya donde vaya, siempre me lo encuentro.

Wherever I go, I always meet him
18 Me disgusta que ella fume.
I dislike her smoking
19 Se fue sin que yo lo supiera.
He went without my knowing it
20 No pude evitar que gritara.
I couldn’t prevent him from shouting
 HOW TO SAY THE SPANISH SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
IN ENGLISH

The Spanish subjunctive mood is a kind of magic box holding many

meanings and shades of meanings. The subjunctive mood as such is
very seldom used in modern English. We can find it in certain ritual
expressions (God save the Queen, The Lord be with you) and in
American English (It isn’t necessary that he speak). In English we use
the indicative mood in many cases that a subjunctive is used in
Spanish. But there are also other constructions. Let’s look at them.

1) With Spanish verbs like intentar, lograr, conseguir, procurar,

hacer que, etc. it is possible to use a que-clause with a different
subject and a subjunctive. In English, however, we have to re-
phrase the sentence, usually with make or get (have in
American English)
Intentamos que vinieran antes ► We tried to get them to come earlier
Procuraremos que nos ayuden ► We will try to have them help us
¿Lograste que se fuesen? ► Did you make them go away /
Did you manage to make them go away
No conseguimos que cantasen ► We couldn’t get them to sing
Hicieron que nos desnudásemos ► They made us take our clothes off

2) There is another set of verbs (suggest, recommend, request,

demand, insist) after which we can use either a form of the
present (which is a throwback to an old subjunctive form, as
we can see from the fact that there is no final –s in the 3 rd
person singular) or should.
She suggested that the dog stay / should stay in the garden
 She demanded that the children make / should make less noise

3) We will come across other expressions followed by should

where in Spanish a subjunctive construction would be used.
Usually these are cases in which the action referred to is
nebulous, improbable, or hypothetical.
It is difficult to imagine why anybody should feel oppressed
He put the documents in the bank for fear that someone should try to steal them

4) I wish = ojalá. When wish is used like this, there is a problem of

sequence of tenses. The verb which follows wish does not have
the tense which corresponds to the meaning, but one which is
‘more past’.
I wish (that) I was handsome (He is not handsome in the present)
I wish (that) I hadn’t said that (A past meaning –somebody said something
- is expressed with a past perfect tense).
I wish can be followed by would when there is a sense of
insistence, habit, or willingness.
I wish you would shut up
Note that would after wish cannot be used in a pure future
sense. A different structure is necessary.
I hope there will be a strike tomorrow (Not: I wish there would be a strike))

TRANSLATE

1 Antes de que venga, lo habré terminado.

2 Me alegro mucho de que usted haya venido.

3 Ella me pidió que me quedara.

4 A ellos les gustaría que trabajáramos más.

5 Ellos se levantaron para que nosotros nos sentáramos.

6 Trajeron el balón para que los niños jugaran.

7 Puede que vengan.

8 Puede que lo hayan hecho.

9 Es preciso que vengas en seguida.

10 No hace falta que hables en público.

11 Si él viniera, se lo diríamos.

12 Si telefoneara, pregúntale a qué hora vendrá.

13 Ojalá ella viniera con nosotros.

14 Ojalá ella hubiera llegado a tiempo.

15 Por mucho que trabaje, nunca será rico.

16 Haga lo que haga, ella siempre se disgusta conmigo.

17 Vaya donde vaya, siempre me lo encuentro.

18 Me disgusta que ella fume.

19 Se fue sin que yo lo supiera.

20 No pude evitar que gritara.