Welcome to the final furlong of the Present Subjunctive!
So, you’ve got a good idea of when to use the subjunctive mood, from reading: Indicative VS Subjunctive and you’ve tackled the Present Subjunctive with Regular Verbs. You may have just dipped your toe into studying the Present Subjunctive with Irregular verbs but now you want to take a look at the Present Subjunctive Tense with Orthographic (Spell) Changing verbs.
Well, you’ve come to the right place!
What are Orthographic Changing verbs?
These are the verbs, that when said aloud seem to be pretty regular. However, when you write them down, there is usually some kind of change, whether it be a letter or an accent and this is usually done to maintain the original sound in the infinitive.
Often it’s to keep a hard or soft C or G, or to keep the stress in a particular position. You may have come across the Orthographic Changing Verbs already when learning the Present Tense in the Indicative mood. If so, you are 90% of the way there in terms of using the Orthographic Changing Verbs with the present Subjunctive.
Are Orthographic Changing verbs actually irregular in the Subjunctive mood?
I would say in general, no!
These verbs are definitely irregular verbs in the Indicative mood, but when it comes for forming them in the Present Subjunctive, you are actually following the rules.
So… why do they have their own blog, if they are by and large regular?
Well, although we simply do what we should when it comes to the formation of the Present Tense in the Subjunctive mood, which is use the YO form of the verb in the Indicative mood as a stem for your new Subjunctive formation, the Orthographic Changing verbs are pretty tricky to get used to, so it’s always good to have a go at those separately.
Need a recap on how to form the Present Subjunctive?
Here’s a basic recap of how to form the Present Subjunctive. Remember, this is considered REGULAR in terms of the Subjunctive mood formation, even though you may be using verbs that are irregular in the Indicative mood:
- Take the ‘yo’ form of the present tense that you are already used to (the indicative) i.e. Como / Hablo / Tengo / Conozco / Cojo / Consigo
- Remove the ‘o’ leaving, for example: Com_ /Habl_ /Teng_ /Conozc_/Coj_/Consig_. This will be the stem for 6 formations (yo/tu/él etc.).
- Add the new subjunctive ending.
Here are the endings:
| -AR | -ER | -IR | |
| (yo) | -e | -a | -a |
| (tú) | -es | -as | -as |
| (él/ella) | -e | -a | -a |
| (nosotros/as) | -emos | -amos | -amos |
| (vosotros/as) | -éis | -áis | -áis |
| (ellos/as) | -en | -an | -an |
If the Orthographic Changing Verbs are formed regularly in the Subjunctive, are there really any irregulars?
Yes! If you remember, we can only do this formation when we have an ‘O’ at the end of the YO form to take away. If a verb doesn’t end in an ‘O’ in the YO form, how can you follow this REGULAR step of taking off the ‘O’?
You simply can’t, and therefore the verb is then considered Irregular in the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood.
Also, there are some verbs that have changes in the stem of the Nosotros and Vosotros formation and therefore are considered irregular. So don’t forget about those!
Take a look at Present Subjunctive with Irregular verbs if you need a recap of those few that are really considered irregular.
Don’t be scared of Orthographic changing Verbs in the Present Subjunctive!
At the end of the day, when you use them in speech, you approach them in the same way as you would do a regular verb. Therefore, if you are speaking, try not to overthink it. When you are writing, you’ll have more time to think about how you spell the verbs, so again, don’t stress.
There are quite a few groups and various verbs within them, but don’t try to tackle them all. Just learn a couple of high frequency verbs from each group and in time you’ll pick up the others. Anyway, if you are quite good at these from learning your Indicative Mood, then you are pretty much there.
Just remember to take off the ‘O’ and add your new Subjunctive endings!
A final reminder…
Here is a list of the Orthographic/Spell changing verbs in the present tense Indicative. These will give you the correct ‘yo’ stem, and then you can apply the Present Subjunctive endings:
- Verbs that end in –ger and –gir change the g to j in the yo form.
- Verbs that end in –guir change the gu to g in the yo form.
- Verbs that end in a consonant + –cer or –cir change the c to z in the yo form.
- Verbs that end in a vowel + -cer or -cir add z before the c in the yo form.
- Verbs that end in -uir (NOT guir) add y before o, e, and a.
- Some verbs that end in -iar and nearly all verbs that end in -uar put a written accent on the i or the u in all except the nosotros and vosotros forms.
As always, practice makes perfect when it comes to learning and using verbs, so head to Simple Spanish Tips where you’ll find plenty of interactive practice activities to help you learn how to form the Present Subjunctive with Orthographic/Spell changing verbs.
Did you find this blog useful?
If so, please take the time to share it with friends, family and on your social media. I’d really appreciate it.
Would you like know what more Simple Spanish Tips has to offer you?
Feel free to leave a comment and perhaps I can add a blog about it. Also don’t forget to visit the website, where you’ll find simple Spanish explanations, videos and interactive exercises. Also, join the mail list so you don’t miss out on new free resources and updates!