Visit College Campuses in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to visit college campuses in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use vocabulary related to college

• talk about one’s ideal college

• express needs

Vocabulary

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

Adjectives

Spanish	English
accesible	accessible
futuro	future
lingüístico	linguistic, language
sostenible	sustainable

examples
Quiero una universidad que sea accesible. I want a college that's accessible.
¿Cómo quieres que sea tu futura universidad? What would you like your future college to be like?
En la cual haya intercambios lingüísticos. In which there are language exchange programs.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el becario	scholarship student, grantee
la cooperación	cooperation
la creatividad	creativity
la diversidad	diversity
el emprendimiento	entrepreneurship
el énfasis	emphasis
la facultad	department
la filosofía	philosophy
la importancia	importance
la innovación	innovation
el intercambio	exchange, exchange program
la meritocracia	meritocracy
la reputación	reputation

examples
Quiero una universidad que tenga becarios. I want a college that has scholarship students.
Quiero un campus que fomente la cooperación. I want a campus that encourages cooperation.
Quiero un campus que inspire creatividad. I want a campus that inspires creativity.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
la salud mental	mental health

examples
En la cual se dé importancia a la salud mental. In which importance is placed on mental health.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Especializarse

Especializarse(to specialize) is an -ar pronominal verb with a stem change in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me especialice	I specialize
tú	te especialices	you specialize	informal singular you
vos	te especialices	you specialize	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se especialice	he, she specializes
usted	se especialice	you specialize	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos especialicemos	we specialize
vosotros, vosotras	os especialicéis	you specialize	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se especialicen	they specialize
ustedes	se especialicen	you specialize	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Fomentar

Fomentar(to encourage) is an -ar verb that is regular in the present subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	fomente	I encourage
tú	fomentes	you encourage	informal singular you
vos	fomentes	you encourage	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	fomente	he, she encourages
usted	fomente	you encourage	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	fomentemos	we encourage
vosotros, vosotras	fomentéis	you encourage	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	fomenten	they encourage
ustedes	fomenten	you encourage	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.

Relative Clauses: Subjunctive Versus Indicative

Relative clauses are subordinate clauses that are equivalent to an adjective. They usually explain or elaborate on the noun they modify (the antecedent). In Spanish, relative clauses are commonly introduced by the relative pronoun que.

Check out the following example of a relative clause:

examples
Quiero una universidad que tenga becarios. I want a college that has scholarship students.

In the above example, the relative clause is que tenga becarios. The antecedent is una universidad.

When to Use the Subjunctive in Relative Clauses

When to use the subjunctive mood in relative clauses depends entirely on the speaker’s perception of reality. Two people could be talking about the same thing, but only one could be using the subjunctive. The general rule for using the subjunctive in relative clauses is that when the antecedent is unknown, non-existent, or not yet identified, we use the subjunctive.

Let’s go a bit more into detail:

The Subjunctive with Hypothetical or Desired Antecedents

The verbs buscar, necesitar, and quereroften trigger the subjunctive because we use these verbs to express a desire for something that may or may not exist. More often than not, when one of these verbs is used with a definite antecedent (a noun introduced by elor la, the indicative is used in the relative clause. But when they are used with an indefinite antecedent (a noun introduced by unor una, the subjunctive is generally used in the relative clause.

The Subjunctive with Negated Antecedents

Relative clauses that follow the negated forms of tener, conocer, haber, and existirtake the subjunctive.

Relative Clauses in Questions

In questions, the verb in the relative clause is commonly used in the subjunctive. This is the case when there is an element of doubt and the speaker is not sure whether the antecedent exists.

Relative Pronouns

In these lessons, you saw the following relative pronouns:

Spanish	English
donde	where
el cual, la cual	that, which, who, whom
el que	that, which, who, whom
que	that, which, who, whom

Let’s take a look at some examples of how they are used:

examples
Es una universidad que tiene un campus grande. It's a college that has a big campus.
Quiero un campus en el que haya árboles. I want a campus on which there are trees.
Necesito una universidad en la cual se investigue. I need a college where people do research.
Quiero una universidad donde haya bibliotecas. I want a college where there are libraries.

Read more about relative pronouns in the following articles:

• Relative Pronouns in Spanish

• Relative Pronouns "Donde," "Lo Que," "Lo Cual", and "Cuyo"

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.

Ana:

¿Cómo quieres que sea tu futura universidad?

What would you like your future college to be like?

Pedro:

Quiero una universidad donde haya bibliotecas.

I want a college where there are libraries.

Ana:

¿Te gusta estudiar en la biblioteca?

Do you like to study in the library?

Pedro:

Sí. También quiero una universidad que tenga diversidad.

Yeah. I also want a college that's diverse.

Ana:

Yo también. Y yo quiero un campus donde se valore el arte.

Me too. And I want a campus where art is valued.

Pedro:

Sí. Quiero un campus que inspire creatividad y facilite el aprendizaje.

Yeah. I want a campus that inspires creativity and facilitates learning.

Want to learn more about how to visit college campuses in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Academic Titles in Spanish

• Tips for Communicating with Parents

• Spanish at School