27: Using Subjunctive to Express Concepts in Spanish

Let's express abstract ideas using Spanish subjunctives.

Join us on a rigorous step-by-step journey to fluency.

I'm Timothy, and this is LearnCraft Spanish.

In the previous episode, we learned the subjunctive forms of serr and esthar,

and we started using them along with intentions such as hope or want.

For example, I hope that they are here is not I hope que están aquí,

but instead I hope que estén aquí.

But I also hinted that there are other sentence templates that require the use of the subjunctive.

A really good example of this involves our preposition para,

which very often implies some sort of intention.

We already know how to use it in pretty simple intention situations.

For example, that is for the boy.

In cases like this, para means something like intended for.

But we've also been practicing the phrase para que,

which indicates an intention that something be the case.

This will always be followed by a subjunctive,

no matter what kind of verb occurs before it.

Here's an example.

We did it so that you be here.

Nosotros lo did para que estés aquí.

Nosotros lo hicimos para que estés aquí.

But the English translation of estés is weird here.

We do use the phrase so that or in order that a lot in English.

But we don't say so that you be here or in order that you be here.

Instead, we typically say we did it so that you would be here,

or we did it so that you could be here,

or we did it in order for you to be here.

These are all very confusing and jumbled.

In Spanish, it's very mechanical and simple.

If you do something with an intended outcome for someone or something else,

you'll use para que.

And then you'll follow it with a subjunctive.

Let's practice this a little.

How would you say they did it so that I would be their friend?

Ellos lo did para que yo sea their amigo.

Ellos lo hicieron para que yo sea su amigo.

I did it for you to be the winner.

Yo lo did para que seas the winner.

Yo lo hice para que seas el ganador.

He's here so that you be at home.

Ell está aquí para que estés en casa.

Ell está aquí para que estés en casa.

So in general, no matter how you see intentions being expressed in English,

in Spanish you just use a subjunctive after the word que,

in the case of intentions.

There is one exception, however, and this confuses a lot of students.

Check out this example.

She did it in order to be here.

In this case, she's doing something, and she has an intention,

but the intention is for herself.

She didn't do it in order for you to be here,

or in order for them to be here.

She did it in order for herself to be here.

So you might think this needs to be translated like this.

Ellos lo did para que estés aquí.

But actually, this is unnecessary.

Instead, we'll just do this.

Ellos lo did para estar aquí.

This seems to contradict what I said in the previous episode

about using infinitives with intentions.

But you are allowed to use an infinitive for intention specifically

when the person doing the intention is intending the thing for themselves.

That may sound abstract and vague, so let's contrast some examples with each other.

We did it so that you be here.

Nosotros lo did para que tú estés aquí.

We did it in order to be here.

Nosotros lo did para estar aquí.

Try it out with this next example and use a formal voice.

You did it in order to be the winner.

Usted lo did para ser the winner.

You did it for us to be friends.

Tú lo did para que seamos amigos.

So speaking in broad terms,

a subjunctive is used when someone has an intention for someone or something else.

But when they have an intention for themselves,

you'll typically just use para and then an infinitive.

While we're on that subject, this also happens with a sentence template

we learned in the last episode.

So compare these two sentences.

I want you to be a friend versus I want to be a friend.

We already know how to translate the first one.

I want que seas un amigo.

We use this subjunctive form, seas.

But in the second case, we can simply say,

I want ser un amigo.

Once again, this is because the intention is for the person who's intending it.

In these cases, it's totally okay to use the infinitive.

In fact, it's required that you do that.

Let's practice choosing whether to use a subjunctive or just an infinitive

with a few sentence examples.

I did it for you to be here.

Yo lo did para que estés aquí.

I want her to be my friend.

I want que ella sea mi amiga.

Quiero que ella sea mi amiga.

She did it in order to be at home.

Ella lo did para estar en casa.

In the next one, they are feminine.

They want me to be here.

Ellas want que yo esté aquí.

We ran in order to be here early.

Nosotros ran para estar aquí early.

Nosotros corrimos para estar aquí temprano.

In the next one, everyone is feminine.

We want to be friends.

We want ser amigas.

In the next one, everyone is masculine.

I am here for you to be a friend.

Estoy aquí para que seas un amigo.

I am here in order to be a friend.

Estoy aquí para ser un amigo.

If you're struggling with this, you can get more practice with these sentences at lcspodcast.com slash 27.

Or, of course, you can always sign up for more support from my team to practice this more deeply.

It will become second nature eventually.

Sure, it feels like a lot right now because this is some very serious reprogramming.

But once you rewire your brain to think about intentions this way, you'll truly be thinking in Spanish.

We'll practice this a bit more on the quiz after we covered just one more sentence template that uses subjunctives.

And this last template actually has nothing to do with intention.

Recall this template that we've already learned.

We've been practicing this structure for quite a while now.

It's an exclamation that expresses some sort of emotion like how strange or how fun.

But there's a strange obscure rule involved here.

Whenever this sentence structure comes up, the final k phrase has to be subjunctive.

This has nothing to do with intention.

So it basically has nothing to do with all the rules that we've learned for subjunctives in the last couple of episodes.

Instead, it's just basically a sentence structure to memorize.

Whenever you express an emotional reaction to something in Spanish with a k phrase afterwards,

the k phrase will be in the subjunctive mood.

Let's practice with some examples.

How weird that they are here.

In the next one, use a formal voice.

How amazing that you are my teacher.

How nice that they're at home early.

How nice that they're at home early.

So in summary, we now have three sentence templates that use the subjunctive.

Someone intends that something be the case.

Someone does something but a k, something be the case.

And then k, reaction, k, something be the case.

At this point, we ask all of our students to write a few sentence examples using each of these templates.

Since these three sentence structures are really specific to Spanish,

it's important to start producing sentences like this yourself as much as possible,

which will help rewire your brain to think in Spanish.

Now let's practice our subjunctives using today's final quiz.

In this one, everyone is masculine.

They want me to be their friend.

They want me to be their friend.

I hope we're students.

I hope we're students.

In the next one, the doctor is feminine.

Why is the doctor your friend?

Why is the doctor your amiga?

I did it for them to be at home.

I hope they're taller than she.

I hope they're taller than she.

I hope they're taller than she.

You want me to be at the place?

I'm here in order to be at home.

In the next one, everyone is masculine.

The problem was that they wanted to be students.

The problem era que ellos wanted ser students.

In the next one, everyone is feminine.

They did it for you to be the winner.

Do you want to be at the place?

Do you want to be at the place?

How silly that we're at home.

What silly that we're at home.

In the next one, everyone is masculine.

I studied a lot in order to be a good student.

I studied a lot in order to be a good student.

How sad that you're not present.

In the next one, we are feminine.

We did it in order to be at the place.

In the next one, we used a formal voice.

Do you want to be a millionaire?

I did it in order for the girl to be at the place.

I did it for the girl to be at the place.

Here's an extra hard one just for fun.

You want her to be your friend and me not to be?

You want her to be your friend and me not to be?

You can get more practice with all of this at lcspodcast.com slash 27.

For the rest of this week, we'll be learning more easy words so that we can keep practicing our subjunctives,

but with a lot more examples that are mostly or entirely in Spanish.

This show is brought to you by LearnCraftSpanish.com.

The voice in this episode was our coach Michael Aguadello.

Our music was provided by the Seattle Marimba Cortet, and I'm Timothy encouraging you to do the hard work of learning Spanish.

acquiring a second language is one of the most fulfilling things you can do.

So start your fluency journey today at lcspodcast.com