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In 12.2, you were introduced to the subjunctive tense. You learned that the subjunctive is commonly used in sentences that express wishes, desires, or opinions in Spanish and learned that there are phrases that "trigger" the subjunctive. You will add more triggers to your tool belt in this section!
I. Expresiones del deseo
- aconsejar (to advise)
- desear (to desire, to wish)
- esperar (to hope)
- insistir en (to insist)
- mandar (to order, to command)
- pedir (to to ask for, to request)
- preferir (to prefer)
- prohibir (to forbid)
- querer (to want)
- recomendar (to recommend)
- sugerir (to suggest)
Review the requirements for a subjunctive sentence:
- Do you have two clauses linked by "que"? - [Clause 1] + que + [Clause 2 (subjunctive)]
- Do the clauses have different subjects?
- Does the first clause indicate a wish, desire, or opinion?
You will see a lot of recommendations given around health related topics. How do you recommend others stay healthy? Look at the examples below. Can you identify:
- two clauses with two different subjects?
- the connector "que"?
- a verb expressing desire or opinion that triggers the subjunctive?
Modelos:
- Recomiendo que tú bebas mucha agua todos los días.
- Te aconsejo que descanses más por la noche.
- Te pido que no comas mucha azúcar.
- Sugiero que él camine treinta minutos cada día.
- Espero que ella se sienta mejor pronto.
- Insisto en que ustedes hagan ejercicio tres veces a la semana.
Several trigger verbs (aconsejar, pedir, recomendar, sugerir, mandar, prohibir) often appear with an indirect object pronoun to show to whom the advice or request is directed. It always goes before the conjugated verb.
Modelos:
- Te aconsejo que descanses más por la noche. (I recommend to you that you...)
- Les aconsejo a mis hijos que hagan ejercicio cada día. (I advise my kids that they...)
| me (to me) | nos (to us) |
| te (to you) | os (to you all) |
| le (to him, to her, to you - formal) | les (to them, to you all - formal) |
II. Más Conjugaciones irregulares
In 12.2 you learned the acronym D.I.S.H.E.S. for irregular verbs in the subjunctive. There are also three types of verbs with changes. The verbs ending in -CAR, -GAR, and -ZAR also have a spelling change in order to preserve the sound for pronunciation.
1. Verbs ending in -CAR change to -QUE
| busque | busquemos |
| busques | |
| busque | busquen |
Common verbs with this change: practicar, publicar, sacar, explicar, etc.
2. Verbs ending in -GAR change to -GUE
| llegue | lleguemos |
| llegues | |
| llegue | lleguen |
Common verbs with this change: jugar, pagar, etc.
3. Verbs ending in -ZAR change to -CE
| empiece | empecemos |
| empieces | |
| empiece | empiecen |
Common verbs with this change: almorzar, organizar, etc.
This page titled 12.4.1: Gramática was last modified on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:36:23 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Amanda Hadley and Kelsey Harper.
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