When to use Present Subjunctive when Speaking Spanish

Full credit

Tenses and Moods
The tense tells you when a action takes place (present, preterit, imperfect, future, etc.)
The mood expresses the attitude the speaker has towards the action (indicative vs. subjunctive).

Indicative Mood
Up to now, all the verbs you have learned and used have been in the INDICATIVE mood. Present indicative, preterit, indicative, future indicative, etc.

Subjunctive Mood
This is the new mood you will learn for the first time this year. The subjunctive mood is used when the action MAY or MAY NOT happen; that uncertainty is expressed by putting the verb in the subjunctive. Subjunctive also has tenses (present subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive, future subjunctive, etc.) but for right now, you're only using the PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.

When and why do we use subjunctive
There a re a few requirements for using subjunctive.

• Ud., Uds., and negative tú commands are created by putting the verb in the subjunctive (becuase you can command someone to do things, but the person you are commanding MAY or MAY NOT do the action.)
• In sentences where there are TWO clauses, the MAIN clause is expressed in INDICATIVE (regular present tense) and IF the verb in the DEPENDENT clause may or may not happen - then that verb is expressed in SUBJUNCTIVE. It is required to have TWO DIFFERENT SUBJECTS for this.

Main clause: I want (I for sure want you to do this)
Dependent clause: You to study ( you may or may not want to study)
Yo quiero que tú estudies. (Notice, two differnt subjects: Yo / tú)

The subjunctive sentences have two parts, each with a different subject, connected by the word que.

Certain expressions trigger the subjunctive mood because of what they mean:

• Insistir en que
• Necesitar que
• Permitir que
• Prohibir que
• Querer que
• Recomendar que
• Sugerir que
• Decir que (when you are telling someone what to do)
• Es importante que
• Es necesario que
• Es mejor que
• Es bueno que

1. Mis padres recomiendan que yo _____. (estudiar)
2. Es necesario que nosotros _____ un dieta equilibrada. (mantener)
3. Es importante que Uds. _____ ejercicios tres veces por semana. (hacer)
4. Prohibo que mis hijos _____ comida basura. (comer)
5. Quiero que mis amigos me _____ regalos para mi cumplea ños. (dar)
6. Nuestra profesora nos permite que _____ chicle en la clase. (mascar)
7. ¿Necesitas que yo te _____ unas vitaminas? (buscar)
8. Jorge me dice que _____ jarabe para la tos. (tomar)
9. Es mejor que ellos _____ los alimentos con carbohidratos. (evitar)
10. Les sugiero que _____ al gimnasio. (ir)
11. ¿Te prohíben tus padres que _____ a los bailes del colegio? (salir)
12. Necesitan que yo les _____ mi diagnosis. (decir)

Highlight for answers:

1. estudie
2. mantengamos
3. hagan
4. coman
5. den
6. masquemos
7. busque
8. tome
9. eviten
10. vayan
11. salgas
12. diga