Find a Place to Stay in Spanish
Vocabulary
Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!
Adjectives
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| asequible | affordable |
| gratuito | free |
| grosero | rude |
| inmediato | immediate |
| intuitivo | intuitive |
| prohibitivo | prohibitive |
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Adjective Phrase
Adverb
Nouns
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Noun Phrase
Verb Phrase
In this skill, you learn the following verb phrase!
Optar por
Optar por(to choose) is an -ar verb phrase that is regular in the present subjunctive.
| Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | opte por | I choose | |
| tú | optes por | you choose | informal singular you |
| vos | optes por | you choose | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| él, ella | opte por | he, she chooses | |
| usted | opte | you choose | formal singular you |
| nosotros, nosotras | optemos por | we choose | |
| vosotros, vosotras | optéis por | you choose | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| ellos, ellas | opten por | they choose | |
| ustedes | opten por | you choose | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
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 and concessions.
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 connecting phrases 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.
Concessions
These expressions introduce the idea of a concession, an action occurring despite something else. These expressions often take the subjunctive:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| a pesar de que | in spite of |
| aun cuando | even if, even when |
| aunque | although, even if, though |
| por…que | no matter how… |
Aunque and A Pesar De Que
Aunque and a pesar de que do not always take the subjunctive. If the conditional statement is considered hypothetical, you will use the subjunctive and if it is factual, you will use the indicative.
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Por...Que
Por...que is always used with an adjective or an adverb, and sometimes both.
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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
Ir
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.
3. e> i Stem Changes with -ir Verbs
All e> i stem-changing -ir verbs in the present indicative maintain the stem change in all forms of the present subjunctive.
Subjunctive Trigger Words
WEIRDO
Many of the verbs and phrases that require the subjunctive fit into the acronym WEIRDO: Wishes, Emotions, Impersonal expressions, Recommendations, Doubt/Denial, and Ojalá.
Phrase
Check out the phrase you learned!
Quiz Yourself!
Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!
Spanish Conversation
Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.
Want to learn more about how to find a place to stay in Spanish? Check out the following articles!
