No creo que quiera meterme en este lío: The Subjunctive Mood
swear I understand the problems that the subjunctive causes for those learning Spanish. I'm trying to learn it in French, and it's so similar to Spanish subjunctive yet so different that it seems impossible. But I like challenges. And, besides, all languages have difficult things. I speak English, I dare say, very well, because I get by without problems in any situation, but there are phrasal verbs, which I find incomprehensible. And the pronunciation of words I don't know, which is usually enigmatic. My German is quite good, but I still have problems with grammatical cases and with sentence order. And with long words. A few days ago I discovered a new one that I loved: Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher. Copy, paste and google it: you're going to laugh. In French I get by. I'm not advancing as quickly as I'd like with my learning of the language because the pronunciation is very difficult and full of exceptions, and because, as I was telling you, French subjunctive is similar to Spanish subjunctive but at the same time different, and it's very hard for me to assimilate the rules when speaking in French. Anyway, all this wordiness is to tell you that we're going to delve into the subjunctive mood of the Spanish language, which is surely one of the most difficult things the language has. The examples I gave of the difficulties I have with the other languages I speak have a motivational spirit: whatever language you learn, there's going to be something difficult, but nothing is impossible to learn. So, with the subjunctive mood we're going to go slowly: in this article we'll simply see what we use it for. Let's go!
This article is part of a series of articles in which we’ll look at the conditional and the subjunctive together. Here you can read the first article in the series. Having said that, let’s talk about the fossilization of errors in foreign language acquisition. Progress in linguistic competence in a foreign language depends on many factors: the frequency and method of learning and use, motivation, and a long etcetera. Errors always accompany the use of a language, whether foreign or not: native speakers of all languages make mistakes when using our own language. And many of these errors that we make when acquiring a foreign language become fossilized. This happens because, to put it somehow, our brain decides not to correct that error. And this happens, in general, because that error doesn’t prevent communication, that is, the brain interprets that it’s not necessary to correct it. And one type of error that tends to become fossilized are linguistic transfer errors: in this type of error we adapt a structure from the language we’re acquiring to a structure that’s similar for us from the language or languages we’ve previously acquired, because it’s easier for us to use it. If this error doesn’t prevent communication, and we don’t receive feedback that corrects it, it’s very likely that over time it will become fossilized. And I have real examples. I know an Albanian girl, with whom we did a language exchange for a while, who had learned Spanish as a child watching Latin American television programs. She speaks very good Spanish, to the point that, since she was exposed to many varieties of Spanish, she even knows idioms that I don’t. That is, she taught me Spanish. But in general, when she had to use a verb in the subjunctive, she almost always used it in the indicative, because in most cases the message is understood. But one day I went naming verbs at random asking her to tell me their form in the present subjunctive and she told me all the correct forms. That is, she didn’t use them when speaking because she could get away with not doing it. And the director of the institute where I did my Master’s teaching practicum, a Dutch woman who spoke Spanish with barely traces of a foreign accent, when talking about her Spanish the first thing she told me is that she had acquired it through immersion, and that since she had never had formal learning with the subjunctive she did whatever with it despite the fact that she had been speaking Spanish and living in Spanish-speaking countries for many years. So, let’s go back a bit in this paragraph: errors that don’t prevent communication and that don’t receive feedback tend to become fossilized. In that regard we Spanish speakers are not helpful: if we understand the message, unlike people from other cultures, in general we don’t correct the error. And even if there are many errors in a single sentence, if we understand the message we’re likely to give positive feedback: ¡Qué bien que hablas español! So, if you’re learning Spanish, or any language, and you have exchange with native speakers, although nobody likes to be corrected, ask them to correct you when you make a mistake. This will help you learn. And I say all this here because errors in the use of the subjunctive mood in Spanish are very frequent and tend to become fossilized.
So, what's the subjunctive mood?
In Spanish there are three verb moods: the indicative, the subjunctive and the imperative. Each one fulfills a different communicative function. While the indicative is used to talk about facts and situations that we consider real or certain, the subjunctive is used when we move into the terrain of the hypothetical, the subjective, the desired or the uncertain. As a mood it has, of course, its own verb tenses.
What do we use the subjunctive mood for?
Expressing wishes and hopes: when we want something to happen, but we can’t affirm that it will happen, we use the subjunctive. When we say espero que tengas un buen día (I hope you have a good day), ojalá llueva mañana (I hope it rains tomorrow) or quiero que vengas a visitarme (I want you to come visit me) we’re not describing reality, but rather expressing what we want to happen.
Expressing doubts or uncertainty: with verbs like pensar (to think) or creer (to believe) the subjunctive appears in negative sentences: we say creo que viene (I believe he’s coming), but no creo que venga (I don’t believe he’s coming). With this type of verb it’s as if by believing it or thinking it the fact is real, but by not believing it or not thinking it it isn’t. With verbs that inherently express doubt, like the verb dudar (to doubt) itself, the subjunctive appears in both forms: dudo que venga a la fiesta (I doubt he’s coming to the party), no dudo que venga a la fiesta (I don’t doubt he’s coming to the party).
Expressing emotions: the emotions that a situation generates in us are expressed using the subjunctive: me alegra que estés aquí (I’m glad you’re here), me sorprende que sepas la respuesta (I’m surprised you know the answer).
Giving orders or expressing requests indirectly: When we ask for or recommend something to someone indirectly, we use the subjunctive: if we say te recomiendo que estudies más (I recommend that you study more) or necesito que me ayudes (I need you to help me) we’re not affirming that the person will do it, but rather expressing our desire or need for them to do it.
Expressing purposes: a very frequent use with para que. Estudio para que me vaya bien (I study so that things go well for me). Although we actively do something with a future purpose, we can’t be completely sure that it will happen.
Expressing future events: this use of the subjunctive occurs, for example, with cuando (when), tan pronto como (as soon as), apenas (as soon as), etc. Llámame cuando llegues (Call me when you arrive). We don’t know exactly when the event will take place.
Expressing concession: this use occurs with aunque (although/even if), a pesar de (despite), por más que (no matter how much), etc. If what is said is a hypothesis, the subjunctive is used. Aunque llueva iremos al parque (Even if it rains we’ll go to the park): we don’t know if it will rain. Aunque llueve iremos al parque (Although it’s raining we’ll go to the park): it’s raining, but we’ll go anyway.
Expressions of negation: for many expressions of negation in Spanish the subjunctive is used. No veo que haya progreso (I don’t see that there’s progress). No hay nadie que sepa la respuesta (There’s nobody who knows the answer).
Talking about hypothetical or unreal situations: when we express situations that don’t belong to reality we use the subjunctive to express the condition, and the conditional to express what would happen if the condition is met: si tuviera mucho dinero viajaría por el mundo (if I had a lot of money I would travel the world).
Those described above are not all the uses of the subjunctive, but rather the most frequent ones. The idea of this article was, simply, for you to understand the idea that the subjunctive mood refers, in general, to unreal things, hypothetical things or things that don’t depend directly on oneself. That is, this is a mere introduction. In the next articles we’ll see verb conjugation, different tenses of the subjunctive mood and their uses one by one. Thanks for reading and, if you have any questions, write to me.
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