El modo subjuntivo (the subjunctive mood)

El subjuntivo es un modo que existe en las lenguas romance que denota un carácter irreal o hipotético. En inglés existe un subjuntivo: a veces, podemos sustituir la primera persona del verbo to be en pasado, I was, por I were, cuando queremos expresar irrealidad.

💂 The subjunctive is a mood that exists in Romance languages that denotes an unreal or hypothetical character. In English there is a subjunctive: sometimes, we can substitute the first person of the verb to be in the past tense, I was, for I were, when we want to express unreality.

If I were rich...

I wish James were more friendly.

Estas son formas subjuntivas. Es incorrecto usar I were cuando hablamos de una situación real: Last night I was at John's house.

💂 These are subjunctive forms. It is incorrect to use I were when we talk about a real situation: Last night I was at John's house.

Tenemos otro ejemplo de subjuntivo en inglés, cuando el verbo to be se encuentra en una oración subordinada:

💂 We have another example of subjunctive in English, when the verb to be is in a subordinate clause:

They recommended that he be promoted.

We ask that it be delivered to our office.

Y aquí tenemos ejemplos con otros verbos:

💂 And here we have examples with other verbs:

It is impossible that everyone do it.

I recommend that he eat more fruit.

En español usamos mucho el modo subjuntivo. En las secciones siguientes podemos ver las conjugaciones de los dos tiempos de subjuntivo, el presente y el imperfecto, y también su uso.

💂 In Spanish we use the subjunctive mood a lot. In the following sections we can see the conjugations of the two subjunctive tenses, the present and the imperfect, and also their use.