25 Phrases to Help You Learn the Spanish Subjunctive

11 min video

Learn 25 useful Spanish phrases with the subjunctive, accurate English translations and the context that makes each mood choice work.

The Spanish subjunctive becomes easier to recognise when you hear it in complete phrases. The expressions below cover wishes, recommendations, evaluations, future events, purpose and hypothetical conditions.

A word such as aunque or cuando does not automatically require the subjunctive. The speaker chooses a mood according to meaning: whether the information is asserted as a fact, treated as uncertain, or refers to a pending future event.

Watch the Lesson

25 Spanish Subjunctive Phrases

• 1. Quiero que comas sano.I want you to eat healthily.
• 2. Ella quiere que estés bien.She wants you to be well.
• 3. Espero que te guste este vídeo.I hope you like this video.
• 4. Esperaba que me preguntaras primero.I expected you to ask me first.
• 5. Aunque quiera, no te lo puedo decir.Even if I wanted to, I cannot tell you.
• 6. Aunque terminemos pronto, no nos da tiempo.Even if we finish early, we will not have enough time.
• 7. Llámame cuando puedas.Call me when you can.
• 8. Ven cuando quieras.Come whenever you want.
• 9. Es importante que duermas ocho horas.It is important that you sleep for eight hours.
• 10. Es posible que pregunten por mí.They may ask for me.
• 11. Es necesario que cierres la puerta cuando salgas.You need to close the door when you leave.
• 12. Es genial que viajes todos los meses.It is great that you travel every month.
• 13. Es malo que trabajes tanto.It is bad that you work so much.
• 14. Te recomiendo que hagas deporte todos los días.I recommend that you exercise every day.
• 15. Te recomendamos que practiques estas frases.We recommend that you practise these phrases.
• 16. Que te vaya bien.I hope it goes well for you.
• 17. Que tengas un buen día.Have a good day.
• 18. Marina me ha dicho que la llame esta noche.Marina told me to call her tonight.
• 19. Si yo fuera tú, iría a la fiesta.If I were you, I would go to the party.
• 20. Si yo pudiera elegir, pediría paella.If I could choose, I would order paella.
• 21. Esto es un diario para que escribas todos los días.This is a journal for you to write in every day.
• 22. Dale la escoba a Pablo para que limpie el suelo.Give Pablo the broom so that he can sweep the floor.
• 23. Ojalá no llueva mañana.Hopefully it will not rain tomorrow.
• 24. Ojalá existieran las hadas.If only fairies existed.
• 25. Ojalá pueda ir.I hope I can go.

Grammar Notes

• Wishes, requests and recommendations: querer que, esperar que and recomendar que normally take the subjunctive when the second clause has its own subject: Quiero que comas.
• Aunque: use the indicative when presenting information as known or asserted, and the subjunctive when the circumstance is hypothetical, uncertain or not decisive: Aunque quiera….
• Cuando: the subjunctive commonly refers to a pending future event: Llámame cuando puedas. Habitual or completed events normally use the indicative.
• Evaluation: expressions such as es importante que and es genial que commonly introduce the subjunctive. This does not mean the information is necessarily unreal; a speaker can evaluate something that is true.
• Purpose: para que takes the subjunctive when it introduces a clause with its own subject: Dale la escoba a Pablo para que limpie.
• Hypothetical si clauses: unreal present conditions use the imperfect subjunctive with the conditional: Si yo fuera tú, iría…. The forms ending in -ra and -se, such as fuera/fuese, are generally interchangeable here.
• Ojalá: the present subjunctive expresses a hope considered possible; the imperfect subjunctive often presents a remote or contrary-to-fact wish.

Practise the Pattern

Pause after each phrase and repeat it aloud. Choose five sentences, identify the expression that introduces the subjunctive, and change one element: Espero que te guste el libro; Llámame cuando llegues; Ojalá pueda venir.

Do not memorise a “trigger” alone. Learn the full pattern and the meaning it expresses. That will help you decide between the subjunctive and indicative when the same conjunction can take either mood.

Watch the original lesson on YouTube.