Go to the Festival of San Juan in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to go to the Festival of San Juan in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about Saint John’s Eve

• use vocabulary related to a typical festival

• use the subjunctive to talk about conditional outcomes

Vocabulary

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

Nouns

SpanishEnglish
la chipachipa
el cohetebottle rocket
la fogatabonfire
la hoguerabonfire
el mbejúmbeju
el paraguasumbrella
ParaguayParaguay
examples
Antes de que vuelvas, prueba la chipa.
Before you return, try the chipa.
Cuando llegues, compra cohetes.
When you arrive, buy bottle rockets.
Cuando enciendan las fogatas, sonríe.
When they light the bonfires, smile.

Chipa and Mbejú

Chipa and mbejú are two different foods from Paraguay.

Chipa

Chipa is a type of cheesy bread roll that is popular throughout parts of South America. While there are many different variations on chipa, the base ingredients are yuca or cassava starch, eggs, baking powder, salt, butter, and cheese—lots of cheese!

Mbejú

Mbejú is another type of bread from Paraguay. Like chipa, it’s made with yuca or cassava starch, cheese, butter, and salt. However, chipa takes a flatter, more pancake-like form.

Both chipa and mbejú have their roots in the indigenous Guaraní(Guarani) culture.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

SpanishEnglish
agotarseto run out
aplaudirto clap
dar la bienvenidato welcome

Agotarse

Agotarse(to run out) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)ConjugationTranslationNotes
él, ella, ellose agoteit runs out
ellos, ellasse agotenthey run out

Celebrar

Celebrar(to celebrate) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)ConjugationTranslationNotes
yocelebreI celebrate
celebresyou celebrateinformal singular you
voscelebresyou celebrateinformal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ellacelebrehe, she celebrates
ustedcelebreyou celebrateformal singular you
nosotros, nosotrascelebremoswe celebrate
vosotros, vosotrascelebréisyou celebrateinformal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellascelebrenthey celebrate
ustedescelebrenyou celebrateplural 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.

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 llegues, compra cohetes.
When you arrive, buy bottle rockets.

Cuando bailen, se sentirán felices.
When they dance, they'll feel happy.

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
yoea
, vosesas
usted, él, ellaea
nosotros, nosotrasemosamos
vosotros, vosotraséisáis
ustedes, ellos, ellasenan

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

SubjectDarEstarSer
yoestésea
, vosdesestésseas
usted, él, ellaestésea
nosotros, nosotrasdemosestemosseamos
vosotros, vosotrasdeisestéisseáis
ustedes, ellos, ellasdenesténsean

Present Subjunctive Conjugations of Haber, Ir, and Saber

SubjectHaberIrSaber
yohayavayasepa
, voshayasvayassepas
usted, él, ellahayavayasepa
nosotros, nosotrashayamosvayamossepamos
vosotros, vosotrashayáisvayáissepáis
ustedes, ellos, ellashayanvayansepan

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.

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.

Marta:
Voy a celebrar la Fiesta de San Juan.
I'm going to celebrate Saint John's Eve.
Nico:
¿En Paraguay? Cuando llegues, compra cohetes.
In Paraguay? When you arrive, buy bottle rockets.
Marta:
¿Hay algo que deba probar?
Is there anything I should try?
Nico:
Sí. Cuando vayas, prueba el mbejú.
Yeah. When you go, try mbeju.
Marta:
¿Sabes algo de las fogatas?
Do you know anything about the bonfires?
Nico:
Sí. Antes de que comience, busca un lugar. Cuando enciendan las fogatas, sonríe.
Yes. Before it begins, find a spot. When they light the bonfires, smile.

Want to learn more about how to go to the Festival of San Juan in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

Expressing Uncertainty or Conditional Outcomes with the Subjunctive

Expressing Recommendations and Requests with the Subjunctive

Spanish Subjunctive Mood