Overcome Your Fears in Spanish
Vocabulary
Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!
Adjectives
examples |
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Adverb
Nouns
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Verbs
In this skill, you learn the following verbs!
Averiarse
Averiarse(to break down [machine]) is a pronominal -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
él, ella, ello | se averíe | it breaks down | |
ellos, ellas | se averíen | they break down |
Confiar
Confiar(to trust) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
yo | confíe | I trust | |
tú | confíes | you trust | informal singular you |
vos | confíes | you trust | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
él, ella | confíe | he, she trusts | |
usted | confíe | you trust | formal singular you |
nosotros, nosotras | confiemos | we trust | |
vosotros, vosotras | confiéis | you trust | informal plural you (in Spain) |
ellos, ellas | confíen | they trust | |
ustedes | confíen | you trust | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Note that there is no stem change in the nosotros and the vosotros forms of confiar.
Fracasar
Fracasar(to fail) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
yo | fracase | I fail | |
tú | fracases | you fail | informal singular you |
vos | fracases | you fail | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
él, ella | fracase | he, she fails | |
usted | fracase | you fail | formal singular you |
nosotros, nosotras | fracasemos | we fail | |
vosotros, vosotras | fracaséis | you fail | informal plural you (in Spain) |
ellos, ellas | fracasen | they fail | |
ustedes | fracasen | you fail | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Lastimarse
Lastimarse(to get hurt) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
yo | me lastime | I get hurt | |
tú | te lastimes | you get hurt | informal singular you |
vos | te lastimes | you get hurt | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
él, ella | se lastime | he, she gets hurt | |
usted | se lastime | you get hurt | formal singular you |
nosotros, nosotras | nos lastimemos | we get hurt | |
vosotros, vosotras | os lastiméis | you get hurt | informal plural you (in Spain) |
ellos, ellas | se lastimen | they get hurt | |
ustedes | se lastimen | you get hurt | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Mentir
Mentir(to lie) is an -ir verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
yo | mienta | I lie | |
tú | mientas | you lie | informal singular you |
vos | mientas | you lie | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
él, ella | mienta | he, she lies | |
usted | mienta | you lie | formal singular you |
nosotros, nosotras | mintamos | we lie | |
vosotros, vosotras | mintáis | you lie | informal plural you (in Spain) |
ellos, ellas | mientan | they lie | |
ustedes | mientan | you lie | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Progresar
Progresar(to make progress) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
yo | progrese | I make progress | |
tú | progreses | you make progress | informal singular you |
vos | progreses | you make progress | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
él, ella | progrese | he, she makes progress | |
usted | progrese | you make progress | formal singular you |
nosotros, nosotras | progresemos | we make progress | |
vosotros, vosotras | progreséis | you make progress | informal plural you (in Spain) |
ellos, ellas | progresen | they make progress | |
ustedes | progresen | you make progress | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Soportar
Soportar(to stand [put up with]) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.
Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
yo | soporte | I stand | |
tú | soportes | you stand | informal singular you |
vos | soportes | you stand | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
él, ella | soporte | he, she stands | |
usted | soporte | you stand | formal singular you |
nosotros, nosotras | soportemos | we stand | |
vosotros, vosotras | soportéis | you stand | informal plural you (in Spain) |
ellos, ellas | soporten | they stand | |
ustedes | soporten | you stand | 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 overcome your fears in Spanish? Check out the following articles!