A mood, not a tense

The present subjunctive is a special verb form for things that are wished for, hoped, wanted, or not yet real — and you're expected to produce it. The spec keeps the scope tight: five high-frequency verbs, in the singular persons (yo / tú / él-ella-usted).

Formation tip: take the yo present, drop the -o, add the "opposite vowel" endings — -ar verbs take -e, and -er/-ir verbs take -a: hablar → hable, comer → coma, vivir → viva.

The four times you use it

Only four triggers are in scope. Learn to spot each one:

• 1. Future after cuando. When "when" points to the future: Cuando sea mayor, seré médico — When I'm older, I'll be a doctor.
• 2. After wishing / wanting / command / emotion. Quiero que vengas (I want you to come); Espero que tengas suerte (I hope you have luck).
• 3. After que for a wish. ¡Que tengas un buen día! — Have a good day!
• 4. Purpose after para que. Te lo digo para que lo sepas — I'm telling you so that you know.

Stay in scope for producing. To produce the subjunctive you only need these five verbs, singular, in these four situations. The imperfect subjunctive is different — it's receptive-only (recognise, don't produce), and you'll meet it a few screens on.

After cuando

Why does Pablo write «sea», not «soy»?

After a wish

Your turn — the subjunctive

Subjunctive or normal?

Pick the form that fits each gap.

What is the sign «Se habla español» saying?

The passive with ser

In a passive sentence the thing comes first and the action is done to it. Spanish builds it with ser + a past participle, and the participle agrees (like an adjective). Add por + the doer:

• La casa fue construida por los obreros. — The house was built by the workers.
• El libro es leído por muchos. — The book is read by many.

Agreement: construida is feminine (matching la casa); it would be construido for a masculine noun, construidos/as for plurals.

🟣 Recognise this — you need to understand it, not produce it. The passive is receptive-only in 4SP1. Be able to work out what fue construida ("was built") means when you read or hear it; in your own writing you can side-step it (see the se passive next, or just make the doer the subject).

The se passive — far more common

Spanish usually avoids the ser passive and uses se + the verb in the 3rd person instead. It's the everyday way to say something is done without saying who:

• Se habla español aquí. — Spanish is spoken here.
• Se venden casas. — Houses are sold (note: plural → venden).
• Aquí se come bien. — You eat well / one eats well here.

🟣 Recognise this — you need to understand it, not produce it. The passive is receptive-only, so your job with se habla / se venden is to read them correctly ("is spoken / are sold"). If you ever want the idea in your own writing, the se form is the easy one to borrow — but you won't be penalised for avoiding it.

The se passive

What is the sign «Se habla español» saying?

Read the se passive

What does «Si tuviera tiempo…» mean?

The imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive is the past version of the subjunctive. You'll meet it most in polite requests and "if…" sentences. You only need to recognise it — you're not expected to produce it.

• Quisiera un café, por favor. — I'd like a coffee, please. (a softened, polite "I want")
• Si tuviera dinero, viajaría. — If I had money, I'd travel.
• Me gustaría que vinieras. — I'd like you to come.

Spot it by its endings: the tell-tale look is -ara / -aras / -ara (from -ar verbs) and -iera / -ieras / -iera (from -er / -ir verbs) — hablara, tuviera, viniera. If you see one after si ("if") or a polite quisiera / me gustaría que, that's the imperfect subjunctive.

🟣 Recognise this — you need to understand it, not produce it. The imperfect subjunctive is receptive-only in 4SP1. Read Si tuviera… as "If I had…"; in your own writing you can stick to the present subjunctive and the plain tenses you already know.

Read the imperfect subjunctive

What does «Si tuviera tiempo…» mean?

What is Lucía really telling Sam?

acabar de + infinitive = "to have just…"

Use acabar de (in the present) + an infinitive to say something has just happened:

• Acabo de llegar. — I've just arrived.
• Acaban de salir. — They've just left.

Note: conjugate acabar like a normal -ar verb (acabo, acabas, acaba, acabamos, acabáis, acaban), keep de, then the infinitive never changes.

What does it mean?

Your turn — acabar de

seguir + gerund = "to keep / still…"

Use seguir + the gerund (the -ando/-iendo form) to say an action keeps happening / is still going:

• Sigo estudiando. — I'm still studying.
• Sigue lloviendo. — It's still raining.

Watch the boot: seguir is an e→i stem-changer, so the singular forms shift: sigo, sigues, sigue, then seguimos, seguís, siguen.

Related: llevar + time + gerund tells you how long something's been going: Llevo dos años estudiando español — I've been studying Spanish for two years.

What does it mean?

desde hace — "for how long"

To say you've been doing something for a length of time (and still are), Spanish uses the present tense + desde hace + the time:

• Estudio español desde hace tres años. — I've been studying Spanish for three years.
• Vivo aquí desde hace seis meses. — I've been living here for six months.

Present, not past: the verb stays in the present because the action is still going on. Don't use a past tense here. (The imperfect desde hacía is out of scope for GCSE.)

Your turn — desde hace

What is Lucía really telling Sam?

Your turn — the subjunctive again

Does it trigger the subjunctive?

Some openers wish, want or aim at something not-yet-real (subjunctive). Others just state a fact (normal / indicative). Sort them.

Extras that earn marks

Light-touch, but worth recognising and dropping into your writing:

• Negation. ya no = no longer (ya no fumo, I no longer smoke); tampoco = neither/not either; ni… ni… = neither… nor… (ni carne ni pescado).
• Pronouns after prepositions. Use mí, ti, él… — para mí (for me), según él (according to him). Two irregulars: conmigo (with me), contigo (with you): ¿vienes conmigo?
• The relative lo que = "what / that which": Lo que dices es verdad — What you say is true.

Use them for opinions and topics: Para mí, lo que importa es el medio ambiente — For me, what matters is the environment. Great for the future-ambitions and social-issues questions in your writing.

Match the structure to its meaning

Tap a Spanish structure on the left, then tap its English meaning on the right.

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