Talk About Pet Peeves in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to talk about pet peeves in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• express what bothers you

• talk about emotions using the subjunctive

• use adverbs ending in -mente

Vocabulary

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

Adverbs

Spanish	English
innecesariamente	unnecessarily
ruidosamente	loudly

examples
Que deje el agua dada innecesariamente. That she leaves the water running unnecessarily.
Me molesta que mastique ruidosamente. It annoys me that she chews loudly.

El agua dada

In these lessons, you saw the phrase: Que deje el agua dada innecesariamente. (That she leaves the water running unnecessarily.) While the Spanish verb darcan be translated as to give, it has 47 definitions in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española(Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary)—and that's not including its definitions as a pronominal verb!

In this case, when we say el agua dada, dar means [turned] on or running, so we'd translate el agua dada as the running water.

Note that we can also use dar to talk about gas or electricity.

Nouns

Spanish	English
las apariencias	looks
el cinturón	belt
la cola	line
el móvil	cell phone
el silencio	silence

examples
Me molesta que juzgue por las apariencias. It annoys me that he judges on looks.
Me molesta que no use el cinturón. It annoys me that she doesn't use a belt.
Me molesta que se salte la cola. It annoys me that she cuts in line.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
el chaleco reflectante	safety vest
el espacio personal	personal space
el papel higiénico	toilet paper

examples
Que no use chaleco reflectante. That he doesn't use a safety vest.
Que no respete mi espacio personal. That he doesn't respect my personal space.
Que no reemplace el rollo de papel higiénico. That he doesn't replace the toilet paper roll.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Criticar

Criticar(to criticize) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	critique	I criticize
tú	critiques	you criticize	informal singular you
vos	critiques	you criticize	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	critique	he, she criticizes
usted	critique	you criticize	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	critiquemos	we criticize
vosotros, vosotras	critiquéis	you criticize	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	critiquen	they criticize
ustedes	critiquen	you criticize	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Cubrir

Cubrir(to cover) is an -ir verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	cubra	I cover
tú	cubras	you cover	informal singular you
vos	cubras	you cover	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	cubra	he, she covers
usted	cubra	you cover	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	cubramos	we cover
vosotros, vosotras	cubráis	you cover	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	cubran	they cover
ustedes	cubran	you cover	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Desayunar

Desayunar(to eat breakfast) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	desayune	I eat breakfast
tú	desayunes	you eat breakfast	informal singular you
vos	desayunes	you eat breakfast	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	desayune	he, she eats breakfast
usted	desayune	you eat breakfast	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	desayunemos	we eat breakfast
vosotros, vosotras	desayunéis	you eat breakfast	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	desayunen	they eat breakfast
ustedes	desayunen	you eat breakfast	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Entrometerse

Entrometerse(to meddle) is an -er pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me entrometa	I meddle
tú	te entrometas	you meddle	informal singular you
vos	te entrometas	you meddle	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se entrometa	he, she meddles
usted	se entrometa	you meddle	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos entrometamos	we meddle
vosotros, vosotras	os entrometáis	you meddle	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se entrometan	they meddle
ustedes	se entrometan	you meddle	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Interrumpir

Interrumpir(to interrupt) is an -ir verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	interrumpa	I interrupt
tú	interrumpas	you interrupt	informal singular you
vos	interrumpas	you interrupt	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	interrumpa	he, she interrupts
usted	interrumpa	you interrupt	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	interrumpamos	we interrupt
vosotros, vosotras	interrumpáis	you interrupt	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	interrumpan	they interrupt
ustedes	interrumpan	you interrupt	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Juzgar

Juzgar(to judge) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	juzgue	I judge
tú	juzgues	you judge	informal singular you
vos	juzgues	you judge	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	juzgue	he, she judges
usted	juzgue	you judge	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	juzguemos	we judge
vosotros, vosotras	juzguéis	you judge	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	juzguen	they judge
ustedes	juzguen	you judge	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Masticar

Masticar(to chew) is an -ar verb that has a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	mastique	I chew
tú	mastiques	you chew	informal singular you
vos	mastiques	you chew	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	mastique	he, she chews
usted	mastique	you chew	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	mastiquemos	we chew
vosotros, vosotras	mastiquéis	you chew	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	mastiquen	they chew
ustedes	mastiquen	you chew	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Meterse

Meterse(to meddle) is an -er pronominal verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me meta	I meddle
tú	te metas	you meddle	informal singular you
vos	te metas	you meddle	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se meta	he, she meddles
usted	se meta	you meddle	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos metamos	we meddle
vosotros, vosotras	os metáis	you meddle	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se metan	they meddle
ustedes	se metan	you meddle	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Ocupar

Ocupar(to take up) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	ocupe	I take up
tú	ocupes	you take up	informal singular you
vos	ocupes	you take up	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	ocupe	he, she takes up
usted	ocupe	you take up	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	ocupemos	we take up
vosotros, vosotras	ocupéis	you take up	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	ocupen	they take up
ustedes	ocupen	you take up	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Reciclar

Reciclar(to recycle) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	recicle	I recycle
tú	recicles	you recycle	informal singular you
vos	recicles	you recycle	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	recicle	he, she recycles
usted	recicle	you recycle	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	reciclemos	we recycle
vosotros, vosotras	recicléis	you recycle	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	reciclen	they recycle
ustedes	reciclen	you recycle	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

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.