Subjuntivo - Spanish Subjunctive - Conjugations of Irregular Verbs

The subjunctive is usually considered the most difficult Spanish verb form for students, but hopefully this lesson will simplify matters for you. In Part I, we learned how to form the present subjunctive of regular verbs. In Part II, we will learn the present subjunctive of irregular verbs. In Parts III, IV, and V, we'll take an in-depth look at using the Spanish subjunctive.

Note: All irregular verbs except for dar and estar (see below) use regular endings for subjunctive conjugations.

Stem-changing verbs: There are three kinds of stem-changing -IR verbs.

1. E --» IE

• All singular forms (yo, tú, él) and third person plural (ellos) maintain the stem change
• Nosotros and vosotros forms change E in stem to I

SENTIR		Present	Subjunctive
...que yo		siento	sienta
...que tú		sientes	sientas
...que él/ella/Ud.		siente	sienta
...que nosotros		sentimos	sintamos
...que vosotros		sentís	sintáis
...que ellos/Uds.		sienten	sientan

2. E --» I

• All forms have an I in the stem, whether or not they have it in the present

PEDIR		Present	Subjunctive
...que yo		pido	pida
...que tú		pides	pidas
...que él/ella/Ud.		pide	pida
...que nosotros		pedimos	pidamos
...que vosotros		pedís	pidáis
...que ellos/Uds.		piden	pidan

3. O --» UE

• All singular forms and third person plural maintain the stem change
• Nosotros and vosotros forms change the O in the stem to U

DORMIR		Present	Subjunctive
...que yo		duermo	duerma
...que tú		duermes	duermas
...que él/ella/Ud.		duerme	duerma
...que nosotros		dormimos	durmamos
...que vosotros		dormís	durmáis
...que ellos/Uds.		duermen	duerman

Note: Stem-changing -AR and ER verbs are regular in the subjunctive and are thus explained on the regular conjugations page.

Irregular first person singular: Most verbs, including all G verbs, which have an irregular first person singular conjugation use that conjugation as the subjunctive stem.

Verb	Yo form	Subjunctive
caber	yo quepo	quepa, quepas, quepa, quepamos, quepáis, quepan
caer	caigo	caiga, caigas, caiga, caigamos, caigáis, caigan
conocer	conozco	conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos, conozcáis, conozcan
construir	construyo	construya, construyas, construya, construyamos, construyáis, construyan
decir	digo	diga, digas, diga, digamos, digáis, digan
distinguir	distingo	distinga, distingas, distinga, distingamos, distingáis, distingan
elegir	elijo	elija, elijas, elija, elijamos, elijáis, elijan
hacer	hago	haga, hagas, haga, hagamos, hagáis, hagan
oír	oigo	oiga, oigas, oiga, oigamos, oigáis, oigan
parecer	parezco	parezca, parezcas, parezca, parezcamos, parezcáis, parezcan
poner	pongo	ponga, pongas, ponga, pongamos, pongáis, pongan
salir	salgo	salga, salgas, salga, salgamos, salgáis, salgan
tener	tengo	tenga, tengas, tenga, tengamos, tengáis, tengan
traer	traigo	traiga, traigas, traiga, traigamos, traigáis, traigan
valer	valgo	valga, valgas, valga, valgamos, valgáis, valgan
venir	vengo	venga, vengas, venga, vengamos, vengáis, vengan
ver	veo	vea, veas, vea, veamos, veáis, vean

Note: Verbs with the same endings (-ger, -gir, -guer, -guir, -uir, etc.) follow the same conjugation patterns.

Irregular stems: The following verbs have irregular subjunctive stems:

Verb	Stem	Subjunctive
haber	hay-	haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan
ir	vay-	vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis, vayan
saber	sep-	sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepáis, sepan
ser	se-	sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean

Irregular stem endings: The following verb groups change the final letter in the stem due to the issue of hard/soft vowels:

Verbs that end in -car (c --» qu)
buscar	busqu-	busque, busques, busque, busquemos, busquéis, busquen
Verbs that end in -gar (g --» gu)
pagar	pagu-	pague, pagues, pague, paguemos, paguéis, paguen
Verbs that end in -zar (z --» c)
lanzar	lanc-	lance, lances, lance, lancemos, lancéis, lancen

Dar and estar: These verbs have irregular subjunctive forms due to accents:

Verb	Subjunctive
dar	dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den
estar	esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén

©   Laura K. Lawless
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