Conjugation of Regular Verbs in the Subjunctive Mood

Present-tense endings are reversed from the indicative

man holding coffee beans — Espero que te gusta el café de Costa Rica. (I hope you like Costa Rican coffee.).
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Updated on January 06, 2020

Except for those rare few of us who can learn verb conjugations without effort, mastering them at some point will require rote memorization. While the verb forms can be confusing at first, with use they become natural as conjugations in the native tongue.

The lists below show the forms of the subjunctive for regular verbs; see individual listings for irregular verbs. Translations are given for clarity in distinguishing the tenses; in real life, other translations can be used.

Present Subjunctive of Regular -ar Verbs

Remove the -o from the singular first-person indicative form and add the appropriate ending to form the present subjunctive: -e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, en.

que yo hable (that I speak)
que tú hables (that you speak)
que él/ella/usted hable (that he/she/you speak)
que nosotros/nosotras hablemos (that we speak)
que vosotros/vosotras habléis (that you speak)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes hablen (that they/you speak)

Present Subjunctive of Regular -er and -ir Verbs:

Remove the -o from the singular first-person indicative form and add the appropriate ending: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, an. Note how the endings form a sort of reversal from the indicative mood. In the indicative, -ar verbs use endings with e, with -er and -ir verbs using an ending with a.

Imperfect Subjunctive of Regular -ar Verbs

Remove the -on from the third-person indicative plural preterite form and add the appropriate ending for the imperfect subjunctive : -a, -as, -a, -amos, -ais, -an. Put the stress on the last syllable of the stem in the nosotros form.

que yo hablara (that I spoke)
que tú hablaras (that you spoke)
que él/ella/usted hablara (that he/she/you spoke)
que nosotros/nosotras habláramos (that we spoke)
que vosotros/vosotras hablarais (that you spoke)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaran (that they/you spoke)

Imperfect Subjunctive of Regular -er and -ir Verbs

These verbs are also based and adding these endings to the third-person indicative with the -on removed: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -ais, -an. Note that in the imperfect, the same end procedure is used for conjugated all three types of verbs; they are different because they conjugated differently in the third-person indicative.

que yo comiera (that I ate)
que tú comieras (that you ate)
que él/ella/usted comiera (that he/she/you ate)
que nosotros/nosotras comiéramos (that we ate)
que vosotros/vosotras comierais (that you ate)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes comieran (that they/you ate)

Second Form of the Imperfect Subjunctive

There is also a less common form of the imperfect tense that is used primarily in writing, especially literature. It is seldom heard in speech in most regions. It is conjugated as above, except the -ra- becomes -se-. It normally is not necessary to memorize this form, but you should be able to recognize it when you see or hear it.

que yo hablase (that I spoke)
que tú hablases (that you spoke)
que él/ella/usted hablase (that he/she/you spoke)
que nosotros/nosotras hablásemos (that we spoke)
que vosotros/vosotras hablaseis (that you spoke)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes hablasen (that they/you spoke)
que yo comiese (that I ate)
que tú comieses (that you ate)
que él/ella/usted comiese (that he/she/you ate)
que nosotros/nosotras comiésemos (that we ate)
que vosotros/vosotras comieseis (that you ate)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes comiesen (that they/you ate)

Present Perfect Subjunctive

Use the present subjunctive form of haber (which is irregular) and follow it with the past participle.

que yo haya salido (that I have left)
que tú hayas salido (that you have left)
que él/ella/you haya salido (that he/she/you have left)
que nosotros hayamos salido (that we have left)
que vosotros/vosotras hayáis salido (that you have left)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes hayan salido (that they/you have left)

Past Perfect Subjunctive

To conjugate the past perfect subjunctive, also known as the pluperfect, use the past subjunctive form of haber and follow it with the past participle. Although both the -ra and -se- forms of haber are possible, the former is more common and is shown below.

que yo hubiera salido (that I had left)
que tú hubieras salido (that you had left)
que él/ella/usted hubiera salido (that he/she/you had left)
que nosotros hubiéramos salido (that we had left)
que vosotros/vosotras hubieráis salido (that you had left)
que ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieran salido (that they/you had left)

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Your Citation

Erichsen, Gerald. "Conjugation of Regular Verbs in the Subjunctive Mood." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/conjugation-regular-verbs-in-subjunctive-mood-3079165. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). Conjugation of Regular Verbs in the Subjunctive Mood. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/conjugation-regular-verbs-in-subjunctive-mood-3079165 Erichsen, Gerald. "Conjugation of Regular Verbs in the Subjunctive Mood." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/conjugation-regular-verbs-in-subjunctive-mood-3079165 (accessed April 25, 2024).