3.6.4 Using the present subjunctive

Using the present subjunctive

The most important thing to know about the subjunctive is that it is subject to two limitations:

1. 1. Sentence structure (syntax)
   2. Meaning (semantics)

Sentence structure comes first in the list because it is first.  If you don’t have the right kind of sentence, you cannot use the subjunctive regardless of what you’re trying to say!

What is the sentence structure?  The subjunctive occurs mostly in subordinate clauses.  A clause has a subject and a verb.  A subordinate clause depends on the main clause to make sense.  Without it, a subordinate clause can’t stand on its own.  Let’s take a look at a few examples:

1. Voy al supermercado
   1. This sentence has just one clause.  There’s one subject and therefore the verb has to be in the indicative.
2. Compare that to:
   1. Quiero ir a un supermercado que venda productos orgánicos
      1. This sentence has two clauses.  Can you identify them?  (activity)
3. If we have the right sentence structure, then we move onto meaning.  The subjunctive is a way of signaling on a verb that what you are about to say (or hear) is subjective from the perspective of the speaker.  That doesn’t mean that the speaker doesn’t believe something is true but rather that the speaker recognizes the subjectivity of what they are saying.  This could mean:
   1. Talking about an ideal place or person.  A place or person could have all the characteristics that the speaker is looking for but when they’re talking about an ideal, it’s not a real person.
   2. Expressing doubt.  Your doubts belong to you.  You might be 100% right but when we express our doubts, we are recognizing that our opinions are subjective.
   3. Something that will happen in the future as long as something else happens first.
   4. And more.
4. On the next page we will take a look at one of three kinds of clauses that use the subjunctive: adjectival clauses.