LET'S DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITIES: THE PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE TENSE

When you started learning Spanish, you probably learned the indicative tense. The indicative tense is used to express facts and certainty. It is comparable to an declarative sentence (a sentence that relays information). But what if the statement we want to express holds uncertainty or isn't about a fact, but rather something abstract? If this is the case, we use the subjunctive tense.

The subjunctive tense is used to express doubt, desires, emotions, necessity, uncertainty, and hopes.

The following is a chart of how to conjugate for the present subjunctive tense:

There is an acronym used to remember the different ideas that trigger the subjunctive tense. It is "WEIRDO":

So if we want to talk about a wish, we would use the subjunctive tense instead of the indicative. A sentence that uses the subjunctive would be, "I hope that I get a good grade." The mentioned sentence is not a fact, instead it is a desire. Therefore, it triggers the subjunctive tense instead of the indicative tense.

Let's take a look of example sentences for each of the words in WEIRDO:

W = Wish/Will, Desires

Wanting someone to do something, wishing for something, expecting something, and ordering something all falls into this category.

An example sentence would be "I want my friends to hang out with me tomorrow" ("Quiero que mis amigos pasen el tiempo conmigo mañana.")

E = Emotion

This one can be a little tricky. Emotions can be expressed in the indicative ("I feel stressed" is a fact and thus indicative). Emotions in the subjunctive tense are uncertain. They are possibilities, things that haven't happened yet, or continuous actions.

For example, "It makes me happy that you smile," would be the subjunctive tense. This is because the action of "you smile[ing]" isn't happening at the moment. It is just an idea that is able to be fulfilled. It is a possibility.

The Spanish translation would be, "Me alegro de que sonrías." Notice that the second part of the sentence, "sonrías" is conjugated in the subjunctive tense. This is because the first part of the sentence "It makes me happy" is a fact, while the second part ("that you smile") is a possibility.

I = Impersonal Expression

Impersonal Expressions state someone's opinion on something. They are often subjective statements such as "It is necessary that you take Chemistry." ("Es necessary que tomes la clase de química.")

R = Requests/Recommendation

This is used when you, someone else, or multiple people recommend, suggests, asks, or wants another person to do (or not to do) something.

For example, "My mother recommends that I clean my room." ("Mi madre recomienda que limpie mi cuarto.")

D = Doubt/Denial

Doubt and denial triggers the subjunctive.

"I doubt that she knows how to speak Spanish."

"Dudo que ella saba como hablar Español."

O = Ojalá

Ojalá is a word to express "I hope", "God wills", "I wish", "If only", or any other strong statement along those lines. It triggers the subjunctive when used, and you can say "Ojalá que" or simply just "Ojalá" by itself.

For example, you can say:

"Ojalá que mis padres se lleven bien." ("I hope that my parents get along well.")

OR

"Ojalá mis padres se lleven bien." ("I hope that my parents get along well.")

Remember that for other verbs, you must use the "que". For "Ojalá", you do not.

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Now, go out there and explore the possibilities with the subjunctive tense! If you have any questions regarding this topic, or if you would like to request a different grammar topic to be explained, let us know via the chat box on the bottom left of this website or reach us in person. Until next time, ¡Ciao!

EL TIEMPO: TELL TIME IN SPANISH

There are different ways to tell time in Spanish.

For the quarters of the clock (15, 30, 45, and 00 minutes), there are two options. You can either use the hour and the number of the minute or you could use the phrase for the specific time marker.

For example, if it is 2:15 you could either say, "son las dos y quince" or "son las dos y cuarto". The first method using "quince" is telling the time with the name of the minute (since it is "fifteen"). In the second method, you are essentially saying that it is two and a quarter, hence "cuarto".

If it is 2:30 you could say "son las dos y media" or "son las dos y treinta". If it is 2:45 you could say "son las 2 y cuarenta y cinco" or you could say "son las tres menos quince". By saying son las dos menos quince, you are stating that it is 3 o'clock minus 15 minutes.

The list below covers how to state when you are referencing a whole hour like:

1 pm, 3 am or noon:

Other good numbers to know when stating time are listed below. If you are looking for anything in between such as 2:23, just follow the pattern and change the ending.

"DÍMELO YA": INFORMAL/FORMAL COMMANDS IN SPANISH

Have you ever had the need to scream "listen to me!" at that one friend who keeps blabbering on? Or tell the class to "be quiet" because you can't hear the IB coordinator making an announcement on the intercom? If so, you're looking for mandatos, "Spanish commands." These are used to tell someone to do something without the extra "It's necessary that you" or "It's important to..." of the subjunctive. You use mandatos to straight up tell someone, "Hey, do this."

There are two kinds of commands: formal and informal.

The tú commands are informal and are used for friends, close family members, peers, those younger than you, and pets.

The usted or ustedes commands are formal and are used for people you don't know well, those older than you, and those you want to (or should) show respect towards (such as managers or teachers).

Mandatos are conjugated using specific conjugation rules. The following chart outlines the conjugation rules:

For example, if you were to tell your friend, "cut the paper," you would conjugate "cortar" in the tú afirmativo form. Thus, you would say "corta el papel" because the 3rd person singular of "cortar" is "corta".

If you told your friend, "don't cut the paper," you would conjugate "cortar" in the tú negativo form (since you are telling them NOT to do something). Thus, you would say "no cortes el papel."

If you told someone you respect to "cut the paper", you would conjugate for the usted afirmativo. It would be "Corte el papel." If it were multiple people, it would be "corten el papel" because you switch between the 3rd person singular/plural of the subjunctive tense when using formal commands.

It starts to get tricky when you involve direct and indirect object pronouns.

Sometimes when you tell people to do something, you might tell them to give something to another person or help someone with an activity. When this is the case, direct and indirect objects are used. Consider the following sentence:

Help him cut the paper.

"Cut the paper" is the direct object because it answers what the verb (help) is doing. "Him" is the indirect object because it answers for whom the action (help) is being done.

In Spanish, the direct and indirect objects usually go in front of the verb (for example, we could say "se lo dimos", or "we gave it to him"). Mandatos follows the same rules, except in the case of the tú afirmativo.

If you are conjugating for the tú afirmativo and are using direct/indirect object pronouns, you MUST attach them to the end of the verb.

So if you want to tell your friend, "tell me," you would say, "díme."

In the example, "me" is the indirect object. Because the tú afirmativo form is being used, the "me" is attached to the verb instead of being in front of it (for example, "me dí" would be incorrect).

There is one last thing that you need to know about Mandatos, and that is that there are irregular verbs for the tú affirmative form.

The following chart displays some of the common ones:

That's all for mandatos! Now go out there and tell your friend to stop procrastinating and do their Spanish homework! If you have any questions, you can contact us using the chat box on the bottom right of our website or reaching us in person. Until next time, ¡Ciao!