Romeo & Juliet Spanish Adjectives

Produced by Matthew Zoeller, Spanish Teacher at Lutheran High School, and his students.

Spanish Tenses

How many tenses are there in Spanish....? That question is presented very often and here's your answer:
No way you say! What are all the conjugations for each of these tenses then? Here's your answer again:

Free Books in Spanish!

Yes, that's right, FREE. There is a good assortment of books to read in Spanish. Is there a better way to practice what you love most (Spanish) by what you love even more (reading)? I should say NOT! Click HERE to download your books.

Here is a list of the most common books you may know (with authors), along with their titles in Spanish.

The Bible = La Biblia
The Alchemist (Paul Coelho) = El Alquimista
The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin) = El origen de las especies
Les Miserables (Victor Hugo) = Los Miserables
The Purloined Letter (Edgar Allen Poe) = La carta robada
The Republic (Plato) = La República (Platón)
The Prince and the Pauper (Mark Twain) = El príncipe y el mendigo
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) = Harry Potter y el cáliz de fuego (+ the other 6 books)
The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) = El código Da Vinci
Angels & Demons (Dan Brown) = Angeles y demonios
Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) = Las crónicas de Narnia
Twilight (Stephanie Meyer) = Crepúsculo (+ the other 4 books)
No Greater Love (Mother Teresa) = El amor mas grande

Spanish Works
Cien Años de soledad (Gabriel G. Marquez)
La casa de los espíritus (Isabel Allende)
100 sonetos de amor (Pablo Neruda)
Popol-Vuh (Anónimo)

Subjunctive

The subjunctive (el subjuntivo) is one of the three moods in Spanish, the other two being the indicative and the imperative. The subjunctive mood in Spanish often expresses the opposite of the objective and truthful indicative. The subjunctive is used to express desires, doubts, the unknown, the abstract, and emotions. The subjunctive mood includes 4 different tenses:

1. Presente de subjuntivo
2. Presente perfecto de subjuntivo
3. Imperfecto de subjuntivo
4. Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
   

Elements of the Subjunctive

There are three main parts to a subjunctive sentence:

1. Two Different Subjects

One subject in the main/independent clause, and one in the noun/dependent clause.

• Yo quiero que tú limpies el baño.

2. A Relative Pronoun (que)

This pronoun links the two clauses and translates to mean "that."

• Yo quiero que tú limpies el baño.

3. Two Verbs: One WEIRDO and One Subjunctive

The WEIRDO (indicative) verb (see uses below) is the verb that signals the verb in the next clause will be in the subjunctive.

• Yo quiero que tú limpies el baño.

Uses (WEIRDO)

The subjunctive may seem a bit difficult for many native English speakers since we don´t use the subjunctive too often in English. But if you can keep in mind that each Spanish mood is just that, a mood, then you will begin to "feel" the difference in speech. Of course there are also lots of handy rules and tips to help you until you get the "feelings" of the subjunctive. The acronym WEIRDO seems to encompass most of the situations you will need to use the subjunctive. The subjunctive is used to express: Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal Expressions, Recommendations, Doubt/Denial, and is used after the words Ojalá (I hope to God that...).

1. Wishes

Wishing, wanting, demanding, desiring, expecting, ordering, and preferring all fall into this category. Also mentioning the nonexistence or indefiniteness of something that is desired falls into this category. Because the dependent clause represents what we want from someone else, the actions have not yet occurred and may never occur, thus they are in the subjunctive mood and not the indicative.

• Yo espero que él me compre unas flores. (I hope that he buys me flowers.)
• No hay nadie que quiera sacar la basura. (There is no one that wants to take out the trash.)
• Nosotros agradecemos que tú cocines bien. (We are grateful that you cook well.)

Useful Verbs of Wishfulness

agradecer	to be grateful	insistir	to insist	no tener	not to have
buscar	to look for	mandar	to order	pedir	to request
desear	to wish	necesitar	to need	preferir	to prefer
esperar	to hope/100064/to expect	no encontrar	not to find	querer	to want
exigir	to demand	no haber	there is/are not

2. Emotions

Being annoyed, angry, happy, regretful, sad, scared, or surprised all fall into this category. Any personal reaction to a situation is emotional. The focus is not on a factual observation of a situation but how is makes the subject feel. Since how a person feels is always subjective, you use the subjunctive.

• Me alegro de que tú sonrías. (It makes me happy that you smile.)
• ¿Les molesta que él escuche la música fuerte? (Does it bother you that he listens to loud music?)
• Siento mucho que no puedan venir a la fiesta. (I´m sorry that they can´t come to the party.)

Useful Verbs of Emotion

alegrarse	to be glad	gustar	to like	quejarse	to complain
encantar	to be delighted	lamentar	to regret	sentir	to feel
enojar	to be angry	maravillar	to astonish	sorprender	to surprise
estar contento, enojado, etc.	to be glad, angry, etc.	molestar	to annoy	temer	to fear

3. Impersonal Expressions

Impersonal expressions work a lot like emotions in that they are someone´s opinion or value judgement. They focus on the subjectivity of the subject and not on the actual truth or reality of the situation.

Impersonal Expression Formula

Almost any phase with the es + adjective + que can be an impersonal expression as long as it doesn´t state any truth (es verdad que), certainty (es cierto que), or fact (es hecho que). These are indicative. But their opposites (no es verdad que) are subjunctive.

• Es necesario que Jaime lea este libro. (It is necessary that Jaime reads this book.)
• Es extraño que yo reciba un regalo porque no es mi cumpleaños. (It´s odd that I receive a gift because it isn´t my birthday.)
• Es increíble que los guepardos corran tan rápidamente. (It is incredible that cheetahs can run so quickly.)

Useful Impersonal Expressions (not a complete list!)

es agradable	it is nice	es estupendo	it is great	es necesario	it is necessary	es urgente	it is urgent
es bueno	it is good	es extraño	it is strange	es probable	it is probable	es vergonzoso	it is a disgrace
es curioso	it is curious	es importante	it is important	es raro	it is rare	no es cierto	it is not certain
es dudoso	it is doubtful	es increíble	it is incredible	es recomendable	it is recommended	no es hecho	it is not a fact
es esencial	it is essential	es malo	it is bad	es una lástima	it is a pity	no es verdad	it is not true

4. Recommendations

When a person recommends, suggests, wants, or asks another person to do something, the subjunctive is used. In this case, the que separates the recommender for the recommendation.

• Mi doctor recomienda que yo beba más agua. (My doctor recommends that I drink more water.)
• Yo suplico que mi hija tenga más cuidado. (I beg that my daughter is more careful.)
• Ellos sugieren que tú leas este libro. (They suggest that you read this book.)

Useful Verbs of Recommendation

aconsejar	to advise	proponer	to suggest	sugerir	to suggest
decir	to say	recomendar	to recommend	suplicar	to beg
ordenar	to order	rogar	to beg

5. Doubt

Doubt indicates that a situation seems unreal, therefore, not factual (indicative). To doubt or deny something is to question is sense of reality.

• Dudo que él tenga mi número de teléfono. (I doubt that he has my phone number.)
• No creen que los extraterrestres existan. (They don´t believe that aliens exist.)
• Tú niegas que la camisa sea mía. (You deny that the shirt is mine.)

Useful Verbs of Doubt

dudar	to doubt	no creer	not to believe	no pensar	not to think
negar	to deny	no estar seguro	not to be sure	no suponer	not to assume
no comprender	not to understand	no parecer	not to seem

Indicative or Subjunctive?

Comprender (to understand), creer (to believe), estar seguro (to be sure), parecer (to seem), pensar (to think), and suponer (to assume) are all indicative as they indicate what the subject knows, believes, thinks to be true and part of reality.

6. Ojalá

Ojalá is a Spanish word with Arabic origins. Originally it meant "Oh Allah!" and may have been used in prayers. Nowadays, it has taken on several more general meanings: "I hope to God..." "I hope..." or "If only..." Ojalá can introduce a subjunctive phrase with or without the relative pronoun que.

• ¡Ojalá que recuerde nuestro aniversario! (I hope to God he remembers our anniversary.)
• ¡Ojalá llueva! (I hope it rains!)
• ¡Ojalá que venga el padre Noel. (I hope Santa Clause comes!)

Exercises

1) Label each introductory phrase as subjunctive or indicative.

Example: Duda que -> subjunctive

1. Quiero que
2. Es urgente que
3. Recomienda que
4. Creo que
5. Es posible que
6. Es cierto que
7. Ojalá
8. Estoy segura que
9. Es verdad que
10. Es importante que

Click on "comments" to check your answers.

Information taken from www.spanishdict.com