El modo subjuntivo
 

Mis respuestas son en color verde. Por favor indíquenos si tengo la "sentimiento" y vocabulario/tiempo correcto.

Dé una frase de reacción personal a las siguientes afirmaciones. Use el modo subjuntivo. Por ej: ¡qué lástima! ¡qué bueno! ¡qué interesante! ¡ojalá que ...! ¡no creo que ...! ¡es de esperar que ...! ¡es necesario que ...!

Carlitos tiene catarro y su madre está fuera de la casa.
¡Qué triste que es!

La patrulla de rescate trabaja todo el día para salvar a las víctimas del derrumbe.
¡Esperemos que la patrulla de rescate salvará a las víctimas!

Carlos nunca dijo a su familia que la sucursal de Miami tenía problemas.
¡Eso no es bueno!

Ahora la familia cree que Carlos les ha engañado a todos.
Esperemos que Carlos puede explicar lo que pasó!

Angela estaba con Raquel cuando supo la noticia del derrumbe.
Que necesitan para llegar al lugar del derrumbe, tan pronto como sea posible!

Probablemente Arturo vendrá a México a reunirse con Raquel.
¡Qué bueno que debería ser!

Ramón cree que la familia debe cerrar la sucursal de Miami.
¡Esperemos que no!

Es posible que don Fernando Castillo se recupere un poco.
¡Eso espero!

¿Cuál es el presente del modo subjuntivo de los siguientes verbos entre paréntesis?

El quiere que ella (venir) venga.

Juan no espera que ellos (pensar) piensen.

Raquel ruega que Roberto (estar) esté.

Nosotros esperamos que tú (ir) vayas.

Yo no creo que vosotros (tener) tengáis.

Ramón duda que Gloria (saber) sepa.

Raquel espera que don Fernando (conocer) conozca.

Mercedes anhela que Juan y Pati (arreglarse) arreglen.

El no espera que tú (oír) oigas.

Is that your homework?

The subjunctives look OK to me except you forgot the se here. Mind you - I'm useless. :D

Sí!

Perikles, can you explain the se to me? Why do I add se before arreglan? On my last assignment I had a similar correction by my tutor but no explanation about it. (Oh ... and you are hardly useless!!)

I made some suggestions and comments above.

The sentences marked with :warning: can't be expressed with a subjunctive.

Eeeek! I guess I wasn't as on track as I thought.
How do I make those subjunctive? I thought they were ...
(ETA: I see that they are more statements than feeling - will attempt to redo them)

Thank you for your help Angelica!

Ok.

I was asking you because your homework were very long for an only post.

You have to recognise a reflexive or pronominal verb. One post is too short for a full explanation, but a reflexive verb can usually be translated with a himself/herself/myself etc. Lots of Spanish verbs have a reflexive form corresponding to English transitive/intransitive.

For example: secar to dry (transitive), secarse (intransitive)

El sol secó la ropa
The sun dried the clothes (transitive)

La ropa se secó al sol
The clothes dried in the sun (intransitive)

Literally, the clothes dried themselves, hence se

The reflexive bit is the word se which is always tagged on to the end of the infinitive, but split up in a finite verb to become me, te or se etc. depending on person.

Your original question: Mercedes anhela que Juan y Pati (arreglarse) arreglen.
Have a look at the infinitive: (arreglarse)

Does that help? :)

That does help and it makes sense to me! Muchos gracias Perikles! I had seen this before - with the se but had never understood why and always got those ones wrong. This is a great learning post for me. Thank you very very much!


Should I have broken it into two posts?

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Aquí están mis actualizaciones de los comentarios de Angélica (en azul).
I have redone the sentences entirely because I think that what I did the first time was closer to statements than feelings.

Carlos nunca dijo a su familia que la sucursal de Miami tenía problemas.
:warning: ¡Eso no es (this is not subjunctive) bueno!
¡Es lamentable que no le dijo a su familia!

Ahora la familia cree que Carlos les ha engañado a todos.
¡Esperemos que Carlos puede(this is not subjunctive) explicar lo que pasó!
¡No es cierto que engañó a su familia!

Probablemente Arturo vendrá a México a reunirse con Raquel.
:warning: ¡Qué bueno que debería (this is not subjunctive) ser!
¡Es fácil que ella sea contento!

Es posible que don Fernando Castillo se recupere un poco.
:warning: ¡Eso espero (this is not subjunctive)!
¡Esperemos que se recupere!

A part of the new mistakes are my fault: I didn't explain well what I meant in each marked sentence with "this is not subjunctive".

I suggest that you work in actually recognizing when conjugation is subjunctive and when it is another tense.
And I'll make some more specific comments on the sentences that cannot be expressed with a subjunctive.


¡Eso no es bueno! -> Right sentence, but "es" is simple present and you cannot change it to subjunctive, because this expression does not allow it.
¡Es lamentable que no le dijo a su familia! -> "Dijo" is simple past, so you have to change it for perfect preterite to fit in (HINT: with "haya").

¡Esperemos que Carlos puede explicar lo que pasó! -> You could still use this sentence, but "puede" is simple present, so it has to be replaced by subjunctive.
¡No es cierto que engañó a su familia! -> "engañó" is simple past, so it has to be changed for perfect preterite to fit the sentence (HINT: one more with "haya")

¡Qué bueno que debería ser! -> Wrong sentence. "Deber" doesn't match "¡qué bueno!", because exclamation rejoices and "deber" commands. You could have said "¡qué bueno sería!". But, when built like this, the sentence does not allow a subjunctive, which is your exercise here, so you could say "¡Qué bueno que sea así!".
¡Es fácil que ella sea contento! -> Subjunctive would be right, but "ser" doesn't match "contento". The right verb is "estar". And when "contento" ends with an "o", it's a masculin so here there has to be a correspondence with "ella", which is a feminin. "Sea contento" must be replaced by subjunctive of "estar" and the gender correspondence in "contento".

¡Eso espero! -> "Espero" is present tense. This sentence was right, but does not accept a subjunctive.
¡Esperemos que se recupere! :good: (Fantastic!) :thumbsup:


I hope I didn't make it more confusing. :erm:

Angélica, si se puede decir así. Pero ¿Qué pasó con el subjuntivo de decir? ;-)

@Hernán: traté de mantener el tiempo verbal en que Chicadejeep lo expresó, pero sí, se puede con subjuntivo simple. :)
En cuanto a "dijo", llámame quisquillosa, pero no me acaba de gustar. :thinking:

Ya te tupiste.... dijera, ¿no?

Estoy muy confundido ahora!
Los tiempos y conjugación no es mi fuerza.

I get utterly confused when it comes to mixing conjugations and tenses ... meshing them I guess. I can't even explain myself!

:thinking: :mad: :confused: :sad: (my range of emotions while thinking of this!!!)

I constantly forget about masculino y femenino forms, also the le la el los etc before words, then when it comes to a certain tense matching mood or conjugation based on tense or verbs or whatever ... it blows my mind!

:banghead: I guess this means I have a LOT more studying to do!

Thank you so much for your help Angelica - I will keep working on those and come back with what I can figure out again.

That's why I recommend people to transcribe a novel as they translate it to English, so your mind gets accustomed through your wrists and eyes. :)

Meanwhile if you get to watch movies in Spanish, no subtitles, even though at first you won't understand much other than what through the action you might surmise so in that way your mind also gets accustomed through your ears. Eventually your mind starts to get it and your conscience starts to act upon that.

Wow! Chileno - that is a great idea! Thank you!
Do you have any recommendations for books or movies? Perhaps I will take a trip to the movie store and library tomorrow!

Just something that you like, a novel and not a theme like history, but history made story. Ideally a novel that you already have read in English and that has been translated to Spanish. Now if you get one of those novel that are also narrated, you are on your way to glory, because it wil help you also to compare your recorded voice of the novel you are reading/translating to English against the narrated novel supposedly narrated by a native. :-)

It is hard to do, because you don't have the usual support system and a "teacher" supposedly taking you by the hand. It is you, your intelligence and your determination to do what you have to do.

And then you have, practically, the rest of the world to help you. (read : your work, the guy next door, the store clerk, the internet and us)

:D

@ChicadeJeep: Don't despair. Breathe deeply, gather patience and take time for working on it. You'll understand little by little. :)

Thank you AngelicaDeAlquezar - I find myself becoming frantic and impatient as I feel that I am not as far along as I should be. This is my second course and I should be comfortable having a conversation where I can discuss anything from family to work, as well as being able to write fairly detailed paragraphs in past, future, and present tense ... the list goes on of what I should be able to do, but the list is short of what I can do.

Thank you all for being patient with me and helping me.

(Plus we are moving soon - so I am dealing with 3 University courses, final exams, and packing my home!)

That's why you should do what I am telling you. Besides of what you are already doing. :)

But what are you measuring yourself against? I honestly think you are doing yourself an injustice. Nobody would be expected to 'feel comfortable' after studying so short a time - I expect you to be sweating and exhausted. I guess you are at a stage where you know what to say, but by the time you have worked it out, the moment has passed and the conversation has moved on leaving you feeling inadequate. Am I near? :)

Thank you chileno! I most definitely will take your advise.

Yes! Absolutely! My husband keeps asking me to say stuff in Spanish and I know what I should be saying but just can't figure it out. I forget words. I forget simple words! My course work is what is saying I should be at that point. But I have only been honestly studying (via a course) for 5.5 months now. Is that a time frame that a person should be comfortable with all this new learning?

Yes and no, really!

It depends on the practice, not only the amount of it but the type.

Transcribe a novel and at the end you will definitely will notice the difference, even if you do it in a month or less. But you have to dedicate your time to it.

I would say not - I would be very jealous of somebody who could claim that. I have been studying languages on and off for decades, and it takes me (literally) years before feeling 'comfortable'. :)

Edit: It also depends hugely on what level of competence makes you comfortable. A self-critical person has a hard life here.

Take in account all she is saying is that she cannot make even small statements to tell her husband because she gets :) all knotted up. :D

:lol::lol: .. I get the point. However, this may, or may not, involve the dynamics of a relationship. Dangerous territory. :rolleyes:

Bruto! :):D:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Haha! You guys are funny.

No - saying simple things to my husband such as "would you like a glass of milk?" Etc.

You two make me laugh!!
I am a very self-critical person which does make it harder I imagine/suppose/guess.

I found the local library the other day and will be going to find a Spanish novel to transcribe as soon as I can! Perhaps they have movies as well.

Good - this means that you have a better chance of finishing up speaking excellent Spanish. :)

This is a very good idea, but please be careful in your choice of book. Some are very heavy going, for example Gabriel García Márquez. If you see a book by Tracey Chevalier (especailly the Girl with the Pearl Earring) translated from English, try one of those to begin with - very nice but simple style. :)

Remember that the proficiency in his/her own language plays a role too. So recommending book just like that, to your liking, it does not mean much, other than making it worse for the learner, could be way above her/his head or so easy that leave her/him wondering... in either case the person might end quitting the learning of a new language for "later" which translate to never again.

I have knowledge of University level English - so even if I managed to pick up a 'heavy' read I should be okay with it.

BUT, I do believe that I will start with something simple and easy!!
(Maybe a kids novel?!)

Okay - I have redone again: Newest in purple.

Carlos nunca dijo a su familia que la sucursal de Miami tenía problemas.
:warning: ¡Eso no es (this is not subjunctive) bueno!
¡Es lamentable que no le dijo a su familia!
¡Es lamentable que no le dijo a su familia!
¡Es lamentable que no le haya dijo a su familia! (I think that all I had to do was add the haya in?)

Ahora la familia cree que Carlos les ha engañado a todos.
¡Esperemos que Carlos puede(this is not subjunctive) explicar lo que pasó!
¡No es cierto que engañó a su familia!
¡No es cierto que engañó a su familia!
¡Es no es cierto que haya engañó a su familia! (I think that all I had to do was add the haya in?)

Probablemente Arturo vendrá a México a reunirse con Raquel.
:warning: ¡Qué bueno que debería (this is not subjunctive) ser!
¡Es fácil que ella sea contento!
¡Es fácil que ella sea contento!
¡Espero que ella sea feliz! (I changed it to I hope she will be happy - does this work better?)

No, because it makes you feel awkward.

Maybe easy, but not that easy, although I always recommend you pick up something that will be at your level, not so much as to be a challenge, but enough to leave you wanting more. ;)

Okay - I am awkward enough as it is!! :p

I will follow that advise chileno - thank you again!
Will try and get to the library tomorrow.
We are in the process of packing our home to move so it is tough to find time!

Wrong in both cases. "Dijo" and "engañó" are simple past, and both because of the exercise reasons and the sentence structure, you have to use a subjunctive:
-> Es lamentable que no le haya dicho a su familia.
-> No es cierto que haya engañado a su familia.
"Haber" is an auxiliary verb used for conjugating composite tenses. It needs a past participle.

If you still haven't learnt those tenses, you can follow one of Chileno's previous suggestions and make the sentences with subjunctive preterite:
-> Es lamentable que no le dijera a su familia.
-> No es cierto que engañara a su familia.



You could also have kept contento(a): "¡Espero que ella esté contenta!"

Oh good! Thanks! Ah - because I had originally used 'es' which is not used in subjunctive, therefore it has to be esté.

I think I responded into the quote ... sorry about that!
Thank you very much for your help!

Don't worry about where you reply... I just hope comments and suggestions will help you. :)

"Es" was not a subjunctive, that's true, but it wasn't the right verb either:

Ser -> es (simple present) -> sea (subjunctive)
Estar -> está (simple present) -> esté (subjunctive) :)

Ahhh the dreaded Ser vs Estar! I always get those confused!
Yes - the comments do help me!