Presente Subjuntivo, Part 2

Stem Changes in the Present Subjunctive

Watch this grammar video lesson. Pause the video when needed and take as many notes as you would like!

Here are the conjugation rules explained in the video above. Read over these rules and create flash cards if you wish. In the next section you will review these grammar rules and then, practice what you learned with the online activities.

Rule #1: -ar and -er verbs

e → ie
o → ue

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.

Example verb: querer

Subjunctive stem: quer → quier-
Subjunctive stem for nosotros and vosotros forms: querer - er = quer-

**Present Subjunctive - querer**
Singular	Plural
quiera quieras quiera	queramos queráis quieran

Rule #2: -ir verbs

e → ie
o → ue

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.

Example verb: sentir

Subjunctive stem: sent → sient-
Subjunctive stem for nosotros and vosotros forms: sent → sint-

**Present Subjunctive - sentir**
Singular	Plural
sienta sientas sienta	sintamos sintáis sientan

Example verb: dormir

Subjunctive stem: dorm → duerm-
Subjunctive stem for nosotros and vosotros forms: dorm → durm-

**Present Subjunctive - dormir**
Singular	Plural
duerma duermas duerma	durmamos durmáis duerman

Rule #3: -ir verbs

e → i

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

Example verb: pedir

Subjunctive stem: ped → pid-

**Present Subjunctive - pedir**
Singular	Plural
pida pidas pida	pidamos pidáis pidan

Spelling Changes

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 preterit. Let's take a look at some of these verbs.

-ger and -gir 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 - escoger**
Singular	Plural
escoja escojas escoja	escojamos escojáis escojan

-car, -gar and -zar Verbs

Verbs ending in -car, -gar, and -zar undergo a change in the final consonant before -ar. These consonants change to:

c → qu
g → gu
z → c

Some of these verbs, such as empezar, also undergo stem changes.

Example verb: sacar

Subjunctive stem: sac → saqu-

**Present Subjunctive - sacar**
Singular	Plural
saque saques saque	saquemos saquéis saquen

Example verb: llegar

Subjunctive stem: lleg → llegu-

**Present Subjunctive - llegar**
Singular	Plural
llegue llegues llegue	lleguemos lleguéis lleguen

Example verb: empezar

Subjunctive stem: empez → empiec-/empec- (nosostros/vosotros)

**Present Subjunctive - empezar**
Singular	Plural
empiece empieces empiece	empecemos empecéis empiecen

Video Presentation

Here is a short but important video lesson to wrap up the uses of subjunctive verbs. Be prepared to pause and take notes.

Practice Activity

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.