Let’s assume that firstly, you’ve learnt what the Subjunctive mood is and when to use it by reading: Indicative VS Subjunctive and secondly, you’ve learnt how to form the Present Subjunctive with Regular Verbs. That means that you are ready to take on the the Present Subjunctive Tense with Irregular Verbs.
Well what are you waiting for?… Let’s get started!
Irregular verbs in the present subjunctive
There are a fair few irregular verbs in the Present Subjunctive. However, these are not your typical ‘tener’ and ‘salir’ etc, because these do as they should in the Present Subjunctive. Let’s look at them in groups…
Stem changing verbs in the Present Subjunctive (that don’t end in ‘o’ in the present indicative)
The first group of irregulars are the verbs with a ‘yo’ formation that doesn’t end in ‘o’… because how can you remove the ‘o’ if it doesn’t have one to take away? So, straight away, these are irregular.
Here they are:
| ESTAR | IR | HABER | SABER | SER | DAR |
| esté | vaya | haya | sepa | sea | dé |
| estés | vayas | hayas | sepas | seas | des |
| esté | vaya | haya | sepa | sea | dé |
| estemos | vayamos | hayamos | sepamos | seamos | demos |
| estéis | vayáis | hayáis | sepáis | seáis | deis |
| estén | vayan | hayan | sepan | sean | den |
The good thing about these are that they have familiar endings (the accents might misbehave a little but at least the pattern is familiar (for the ‘-AR verbs: e/es/e/emos/éis/en and for the -ER ending verbs: a/as/a/amos/áis/an )
Get to know these irregular verbs in the Present Subjunctive by having a go at this practice activity. Then, once you are feeling more confident, take a look at the next set of irregular verbs in the Present Subjunctive…
Stem changing verbs in the Present Subjunctive (that copy the infinitive stem in nosotros/vosotros)
We are used to stem changing verbs (or as I like to call many of them ‘boot verbs’) because we have seen them in the indicative. We’ve already seen how some verbs (specifically the ‘yo-go’ verbs) that are irregular in the Present Tense Indicative (i.e. Tener/salir/valer/poner) are not actually irregular in the Present Subjunctive, because they do what they should.
However, certain non ‘yo-go’ stem changers (boot verbs) are a little irregular:
So, we know that to form the Present Subjunctive, we need to find the stem (we take the present tense ‘yo’ form and remove the ‘o’). We also know that this is USUALLY the stem for all 6 formations, even for ‘yo-go’ verbs like TENER and VENIR.
However, for the -ar and -er stem-changing verbs that are not ‘yo-go’ verbs, the rule to find the stem applies BUT the stem is different for the nosotros and vosotros forms because is copies the original stem from the INFINITIVE:
For example: Pensar (Present tense stem changer/boot verb: e to ie)
| Optional pronouns | New stem | Present subjunctive ending |
| (yo) | piens- | e |
| (tú) | piens- | es |
| (él/ella/usted) | piens- | e |
| (nosotors/as) | pens- | emos |
| (vosotros/as) | pens– | éis |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | piens- | en |
Here are some more important verbs that do this:
| Perder (to lose) e=ie | Contar (to count/tell) o=ue | Volver (to return) o-ue |
| pierda pierdas pierda perdamos perdis pierdan | cuente cuentes cuente contemos contéis cuenten | vuelve vuelves vuelve volvemos volvéis vuelven |
This is enough to take on for now, so why not get used to these irregulars with a little practice:
When you are ready, you can tackle the next set of irregulars below!
Stem changing verbs in the Present Subjunctive (change to ‘u’ in nosotros/vosotros)
There is a similar occurrence in -ir stem-changing verbs that are not ‘yo-go’ verbs… the rule to find the stem applies BUT there is A DIFFERENT stem change in the nosotros and vosotros forms and it’s not about copying the infinitive stem:
For -IR ending (o=ue) stem changing/boot verbs you just have a ‘u’ in the nosotros and vosotros forms.
The good news… this only happens for a few verbs so you’ll struggle to come across more than DORMIR and MORIR that change like this in the Present Subjunctive:
| Optional pronoun | Dormir (to sleep) | Morir (to die) |
| (yo) | duerma | muera |
| (tu) | duermas | mueras |
| (él/ella/usted) | duerma | muera |
| (nosotros/nosotras) | durmamos | muramos |
| (vosotros/vosotras) | durmáis | muráis |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | duerman | mueran |
You’ll find practice activities for this type of stem changing verb in the Present Subjunctive below:
When you are ready, have a go at the next set…
Stem changing verbs in the Present Subjunctive (change to ‘i’ nosotros/vosotros)
Again, a similar thing happens in -IR ending (e=ie and e=i) stem changing/boot verbs. This time you just have an ‘i’ in the nosotros and vosotros forms.
Once again, it’s not too bad because this only happens for a few verbs. The ones you will use most often are below:
| Optional pronoun | Sentir (to feel) | Mentir (to lie | Pedir* (to ask for/order) | Medir* (to measure) |
| (yo) | sienta | mienta | pida | mida |
| (tu) | sientas | mientas | pidas | midas |
| (él/ella/usted) | sienta | mienta | pida | mida |
| (nosotros/nosotras) | sintamos | mintamos | pidamos | midamos |
| (vosotros/vosotras) | sintáis | mintáis | pidáis | midáis |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | sientan | mientan | pidan | midan |
*You may look at Pedir and Medir and wonder why they are even here, because they look pretty regular in terms of the normal Present Subjunctive. Well, officially they are irregular but in reality it does what you should when you form the Present Subjunctive, which we know is…
- Put the verb in the ‘yo’ form: Pido
- Take off the ‘o’: Pid_
- Add the new ending: Pida (Use the same stem for all 6 formations…yo/tú/él etc)
Have a go at some practice activities for the -IR ending (e=ie and e=i) stem changing/boot verbs in the Present Subjunctive:
At the end of the day…
There’s no doubt that there’s a fair few verbs that are irregular in the Present Subjunctive and in reality it does take a while to use them perfectly, but don’t put pressure on yourself to use them all perfectly straight away, or to even learn them straight away.
My advice is to really work on learning the triggers and just get used to recognising them first, because that’s half the battle. Once you recognise them well, you’ll find it easier to remember them and use them for yourself.
You have to think of the Subjunctive mood as a marathon, not a race. Take your time to learn it well and everything will fall into place. If you rush it you’ll find it harder in the long run and may undo a lot of what you know about the Indicative Mood, that by now you probably know pretty well.
Oh and just to add one more thing to the mix… When you are ready, there’s the Imperfect Subjunctive. You’ll find it here!
However, for now, why not head to Simple Spanish Tips and try some of my interactive practice activities on the Present Subjunctive.
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