Move to Panama in Spanish
Vocabulary
Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!
Nouns
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el Biomuseo | Biomuseo |
| el contratiempo | setback |
| el jazz | jazz |
| las molas | mola shirts |
| Panamá | Panama |
| examples |
|---|
Geisha Coffee
You might be thinking Geisha coffee has something to do with Japan. Not at all! Geisha coffee originated in Ethiopia, and then spread around the world. The name Geisha (used both in English and Spanish) is an adaptation of “Gesha”, the transliteration of the Amharic name.
Panama has grown Geisha coffee since the mid-twentieth century, and it’s now world famous. It can be incredibly expensive!
The Guna People
The Guna are an indigenous people who live in Panama and Colombia. They make molas, colorful textile creations used as women’s clothing.
Noun Phrases
| examples |
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Verbs
In this skill, you learn the following verbs!
Agradar
Agradar(to be pleased by) is an -ar verb like gustar that is regular in the present subjunctive.
| A+ Pronoun(s) | Singular Conjugation | Plural Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a mí | me agrade | me agraden | I am pleased by it / I am pleased by them | |
| a ti | te agrade | te agraden | you are pleased by it / you are pleased by them | informal singular you |
| a vos | te agrade | te agraden | you are pleased by it / you are pleased by them | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| a él, a ella | le agrade | le agraden | he, she is pleased by it / he, she is pleased by them | |
| a usted | le agrade | le agraden | you are pleased by it / you are pleased by them | formal singular you |
| a nosotros, a nosotras | nos agrade | nos agraden | we are pleased by it / we are pleased by them | |
| a vosotros, a vosotras | os agrade | os agraden | you are pleased by it / you are pleased by them | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| a ellos, a ellas | les agrade | les agraden | they are pleased by it / they are pleased by them | |
| a ustedes | les agrade | les agraden | you are pleased by it / you are pleased by them | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Amar
Amar(to love) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.
| Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | ame | I love | |
| tú | ames | you love | informal singular you |
| vos | ames | you love | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| él, ella | ame | he, she loves | |
| usted | ame | you love | formal singular you |
| nosotros, nosotras | amemos | we love | |
| vosotros, vosotras | améis | you love | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| ellos, ellas | amen | they love | |
| ustedes | amen | you love | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Decepcionar
Decepcionar(to disappoint) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.
| Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | decepcione | I disappoint | |
| tú | decepciones | you disappoint | informal singular you |
| vos | decepciones | you disappoint | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| él, ella | decepcione | he, she disappoints | |
| usted | decepcione | you disappoint | formal singular you |
| nosotros, nosotras | decepcionemos | we disappoint | |
| vosotros, vosotras | decepcionéis | you disappoint | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| ellos, ellas | decepcionen | they disappoint | |
| ustedes | decepcionen | you disappoint | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Faltar
Faltar(to need) is an -ar verb like gustar that is regular in the present subjunctive.
| A+ Pronoun(s) | Singular Conjugation | Plural Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a mí | me falte | me falten | I need it / I need them | |
| a ti | te falte | te falten | you need it / you need them | informal singular you |
| a vos | te falte | te falten | you need it / you need them | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| a él, a ella | le falte | le falten | he, she needs it / he, she needs them | |
| a usted | le falte | le falten | you need it / you need them | formal singular you |
| a nosotros, a nosotras | nos falte | nos falten | we need it / we need them | |
| a vosotros, a vosotras | os falte | os falten | you need it / you need them | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| a ellos, a ellas | les falte | les falten | they need it / they need them | |
| a ustedes | les falte | les falten | you need it / you need them | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Verb Phrase
In this skill, you learn the following verb phrase!
Hacer falta
Hacer falta(to need) is an -er verb like gustar in the present subjunctive.
| A+ Pronoun(s) | Singular Conjugation | Plural Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a mí | me haga falta | me hagan falta | I need it / I need them | |
| a ti | te haga falta | te hagan falta | you need it / you need them | informal singular you |
| a vos | te haga falta | te hagan falta | you need it / you need them | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| a él, a ella | le haga falta | le hagan falta | he, she needs it / he, she needs them | |
| a usted | le haga falta | le hagan falta | you need it / you need them | formal singular you |
| a nosotros, a nosotras | nos haga falta | nos hagan falta | we need it / we need them | |
| a vosotros, a vosotras | os haga falta | os hagan falta | you need it / you need them | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| a ellos, a ellas | les haga falta | les hagan falta | they need it / they need them | |
| a ustedes | les haga falta | les hagan falta | you need it / you need them | 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.
Unlike the present indicative, the present subjunctive is generally subjective.
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.
In these lessons, we saw the following subjunctive trigger words and phrases:
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 move to Panama in Spanish? Check out the following articles!
