Plan a Trip to Punta Cana in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to plan a trip to Punta Cana in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• express what you like and dislike using the subjunctive

• talk about the Dominican Republic

• use vocabulary to describe an island or beach destination

Vocabulary

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

Adjectives

Spanish	English
congestionado	congested
criollo	Creole
encantador	charming
taíno	Taino
tanto	so much, so many

examples
Que la ciudad esté tan congestionada. That the city is so congested.
Me gusta que puedas probar comida criolla. I like that you can try Creole cuisine.
Me gusta que la gente sea encantadora. I like that people are charming.
Me encanta que hagan tantos festivales. I love that there are so many festivals.

Nouns

Spanish	English
la arena	sand
la biodiversidad	biodiversity
el esnórquel	snorkel
la humedad	humidity
el mosquito	mosquito
la ola	wave
la palmera	palm tree
el tráfico	traffic
el Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi

examples
Que tenga playas de arena blanca. That it has white sandy beaches.
Me gusta que tenga tanta biodiversidad. I like that it has so much biodiversity.
Que se pueda bucear con esnórquel That you can snorkel.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el complejo turístico	tourist resort
Punta Cana	Punta Cana
República Dominicana	Dominican Republic

examples
Que tenga tantos complejos turísticos. That it has so many tourist resorts.
Voy a ir a Punta Cana. I'm going to Punta Cana.
Está en la República Dominicana. It's in the Dominican Republic.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Acoger

Acoger(to welcome) is an -er verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	acoja	I welcome
tú	acojas	you welcome	informal singular you
vos	acojas	you welcome	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	acoja	he, she welcomes
usted	acoja	you welcome	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	acojamos	we welcome
vosotros, vosotras	acojáis	you welcome	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	acojan	they welcome
ustedes	acojan	you welcome	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Brillar

Brillar(to shine) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	brille	I shine
tú	brilles	you shine	informal singular you
vos	brilles	you shine	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	brille	he, she shines
usted	brille	you shine	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	brillemos	we shine
vosotros, vosotras	brilléis	you shine	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	brillen	they shine
ustedes	brillen	you shine	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Refrescar

Refrescar(to be refreshing) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation
él, ella, ello	refresque	it is refreshing
ellos, ellas	refresquen	they are refreshing

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

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.