Check Out a Book in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to check out a book in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about books

• use library-related vocabulary

• use the subjunctive to talk about conditional outcomes

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjective

Spanish	English
prestado	borrowed

examples
Después de que lo tomes prestado, cuídalo. After you borrow it, take care of it.

Note that the verb phrase tomar prestado, which literally means to take borrowed, is translated as to borrow.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el carnet	card
el, la cuentacuentos	storyteller
la membresía	membership
el mostrador	front desk
el plazo	due date, deadline
la reseña	review
la verificación	verification

examples
Cuando vayas, lleva mi carnet. When you go, take my card.
Después de que termine el cuentacuentos. After the storyteller finishes.
Luego que tengas la membresía. After you have a membership.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
el boletín informativo	newsletter

examples
¿Cuándo me llegará el boletín informativo? When will I get the newsletter?

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Spanish	English
apuntar	to write down
cumplirse	to arrive [a deadline], expire
entregar	to hand in
inscribirse	to sign up
registrarse	to register
vencerse	to be due

Cumplirse

Cumplirse(to arrive [a deadline], to expire) is an -ir pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
él, ella, ello	se cumpla	it arrives
ellos, ellas	se cumplan	they arrive

Entregar

Entregar(to hand in) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	entregue	I hand in
tú	entregues	you hand in	informal singular you
vos	entregues	you hand in	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	entregue	he, she hands in
usted	entregue	you hand in	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	entreguemos	we hand in
vosotros, vosotras	entreguéis	you hand in	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	entreguen	they hand in
ustedes	entreguen	you hand in	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Inscribirse

Inscribirse(to sign up) is an -ir pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me inscriba	I sign up
tú	te inscribas	you sign up	informal singular you
vos	te inscribas	you sign up	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se inscriba	he, she signs up
usted	se inscriba	you sign up	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos inscribamos	we sign up
vosotros, vosotras	os inscribáis	you sign up	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se inscriban	they sign up
ustedes	se inscriban	you sign up	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Registrarse

Registrarse(to register) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me registre	I register
tú	te registres	you register	informal singular you
vos	te registres	you register	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se registre	he, she registers
usted	se registre	you register	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos registremos	we register
vosotros, vosotras	os registréis	you register	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se registren	they register
ustedes	se registren	you register	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Vencerse

Vencerse(to be due) is a pronominal -er verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
él, ella, ello	se venza	it is due
ellos, ellas	se venzan	they are due

The Present Subjunctive

The Spanish present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) is used to talk about situations of doubt, desire, emotion, necessity, or uncertainty. We can also use the subjunctive to talk about conditional outcomes.

Conditional Outcomes

This type of sentence describes what will happen if another action is completed. These actions are conditional upon another action being completed, so the subjunctive is used to convey a sense of uncertainty. Many phrases with conditional circumstances have a connecting phrase or conjunctive expressions which introduce time limitations, conditions, concessions, or results. The key action—the one that must be completed for the second action to occur—is in the subjunctive.

examples
Cuando los encuentres, resérvalos. When you find them, reserve them.
Luego que lo regrese, lo sacaré yo. After he returns it, I'll take it out.

examples

Cuando los encuentres, resérvalos.

When you find them, reserve them.

Luego que lo regrese, lo sacaré yo.

After he returns it, I'll take it out.

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Subjunctive

To conjugate a verb in the present subjunctive, you must first remember what the present indicative yo form of the verb in question is. This is because the stem of present subjunctive verbs comes from the yo form of the present indicative. For many verbs, this will be the same as the infinitive stem, but for many others, such as verbs with spelling changes, stem-changing verbs, and irregular verbs, it will be different.

Present Subjunctive Stem Formula

The formula for finding the present subjunctive stem of a verb is the following:

present subjunctive stem = yo form of present indicative minus o ending

Regular Present Subjunctive Endings

Once you have the stem, you will add the present subjunctive ending that matches your subject. There are only two ending sets for the present subjunctive: one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs.

Subject	-ar Verb Endings	-er and -ir Verb Endings
yo	e	a
tú, vos	es	as
usted, él, ella	e	a
nosotros, nosotras	emos	amos
vosotros, vosotras	éis	áis
ustedes, ellos, ellas	en	an

Irregular Verbs in the Present Subjunctive

There are only six truly irregular verbs in the subjunctive. You'll find the conjugations for each of these verbs in the tables below.

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Dar, Estar, and Ser

Subject	Dar	Estar	Ser
yo	dé	esté	sea
tú, vos	des	estés	seas
usted, él, ella	dé	esté	sea
nosotros, nosotras	demos	estemos	seamos
vosotros, vosotras	deis	estéis	seáis
ustedes, ellos, ellas	den	estén	sean

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Haber, Ir, and Saber

Subject	Haber	Ir	Saber
yo	haya	vaya	sepa
tú, vos	hayas	vayas	sepas
usted, él, ella	haya	vaya	sepa
nosotros, nosotras	hayamos	vayamos	sepamos
vosotros, vosotras	hayáis	vayáis	sepáis
ustedes, ellos, ellas	hayan	vayan	sepan

To remember these six verbs, just think of the mnemonic DISHES:

Dar

Saber

Haber

Estar

Ser

Stem Changes and the Present Subjunctive

While they’re not entirely irregular, the following verbs do have certain changes that we need to keep in mind while conjugating verbs in the subjunctive:

1. e> ie and o> ue Stem Changes with -ar and -er Verbs

For verbs in this group, the e in the last syllable of the stem (the yo form of the present indicative) changes to ie, or the o in the last syllable of the stem (the yo form of the present indicative) changes to ue. All subjunctive forms follow the stem change except for nosotros and vosotros, which use the infinitive stem.

2. e> ie and o> ue Stem Changes with -ir Verbs

All e> ie and o> ue stem-changing -ir verbs follow the same changes as in the present indicative, except the nosotros and vosotros forms, in which the e changes to i and the o changes to u.