⇒ The Spanish present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) is used to talk about situations of doubt, desire, emotion, necessity, or uncertainty.

⇒ Unlike the present indicative, the present subjunctive is generally subjective.

⇒ For specifics on when to use the subjunctive instead of the indicative, see our notes on subjunctive vs indicative.

⇒ To conjugate a verb in the present subjunctive, you must first remember what the present indicative yo form of the verb in question is.

⇒ This is because the stem of present subjunctive verbs comes from the yo form of the present indicative.

⇒ For many verbs, this will be the same as the infinitive stem, but for many others, such as verbs with spelling changes, stem-changing verbs, and irregular verbs, it will be different.

⇒ The formula for finding the present subjunctive stem of a verb is the following:

• present subjunctive stem = yo form of present indicative minus o ending

⇒ Here are a few examples of present subjunctive stems.

⇒ Once you have the stem, you will add the present subjunctive ending that matches your subject.

⇒ There are only two ending sets for the present subjunctive: one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs.

⇒ In the table below are full present subjunctive conjugations for hablar, tener, and vivir:

⇒ There are only six truly irregular verbs in the subjunctive. You'll find the conjugations for each of these verbs in the tables below.

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Dar, Estar, and Ser

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Haber, Ir, and Saber

⇒ For verbs in this group, the e in the last syllable of the stem (the yo form of the present indicative) changes to ie, or the o in the last syllable of the stem (the yo form of the present indicative) changes to ue.

⇒ All subjunctive forms follow the stem change except for nosotros and vosotros, which use the infinitive stem.

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Querer:

⇒ All e > ie and o > ue stem-changing -ir verbs follow the same changes as in the present indicative, except the nosotros and vosotros, forms, in which the e changes to i and the o changes to u.

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Sentir:

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Dormir:

⇒ All e > i stem-changing -ir verbs in the present indicative maintain the stem change in all forms of the present subjunctive.

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Pedir:

⇒ Some verbs in the present subjunctive undergo spelling changes.

⇒ This often occurs for reasons of pronunciation, and these changes often match those of verbs with spelling changes in the preterite. Let's take a look at some of these verbs.

⇒ Verbs ending in -ger and -gir have a j instead of a g in the subjunctive.

⇒ The base form for these verbs is the first person form of the present tense, which undergoes a spelling change.

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Escoger:

⇒ Verbs ending in -car, -gar, and -zar undergo a change in the final consonant before -ar.

⇒ hese consonants change to qu, gu, and c, respectively.

⇒ Some of these verbs, such as empezar, also under go stem changes.

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Sacar:

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Llegar:

Present Subjunctive Conjugation Table for Empezar: