Subjunctive Conjugation
Hello Ive tried to find answers to this question but to no avail. Is there a hard and fast rule when it comes to learning accent marks in the subjunctive form? I ask this because there does not seem to be any sort of pattern, for example in the present subjunctive of Estar there is an accent over all forms except nosotros, the verb Dar there are accents only in the yo and usted form, and with Tener only the vosotros form carries an accent. It makes it difficult when to learn what verb carries an accent and in what form of the subjunctive.
4 Answers
In adition to what annie said, there is a simple rule to know if a word use tilde in the stressed syllable.
Counting backwards, words can be agudas, graves or esdrújulas:
Agudas: are stressed in the first syllable, they use tilde if they end in N, S or vowel: Volcán, café, además, papel ("-pel" is stressed).
Graves: are stressed in the second syllable, they use tilde if they DON'T end in N, S or vowel: Volcanes ("-can-" is stressed), árbol, carácter.
Esdrújulas: are stressed in the third (fourth or even higher) syllable, they always use tilde: Esdrújula, América, oxígeno.
Those rules apply to every Spanish word, including verbs in any conjugation, and those you asked for:
Yo esté (aguda), tu estés (aguda), nosotros estemos (grave).
Yo tenga (grave), vosotros tengáis (aguda).
With "dar" conjugation, only "dé" carrys tilde because otherwise it'd be the same as "de", for example: Le dije que le dé de tomar agua.
The accents are not to do with verb forms, think of them as an instruction . They simply tell you where to put the stress when you speak. Therefore, if you know how to say the word you will know if it requires a tilde or not. Or vice versa, if it carries atilde, then that's where the stress is. ( If the stress doesn't follow normal rules, that is.If it is normal, then no stress is required out of place, as it were. I hope this answer may help you a little.
Many Thanks for all the excellent advice.
Roulette36 has it down, but I would have a hard time remembering the rule as he tells it.
An easy rule of thumb for me is the "nose" rule: if a word ends in n,s, or any vowel, you stress the second to last syllable, no accent needed. If the word ends in anything other than n, s, or any vowel, you stress the last syllable, no accent needed.
You will, of course, learn words where the stress is placed in violation of the nose rule, and in those cases, you use an accent.
Example: "Esta" meaning "this" is pronounced "ES-ta" using the classic nose rule, no accent needed. But "esta" meaning "he is" or "you are" is pronounced "es-TA," which is in violation of the nose rule, so you need the accent, thus "está."
Another example is that words ending in "-cion" puts the stress on the last syllable in violation of the nose rule, so you put an accent over the "o", like in "estación."
Hope this helps.
