Thursday, July 10, 2014

Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense Subjunctive

There are only a couple of verbs that are irregular in the present tense subjunctive.  If you recall, the opposite vowel suffix substitutes for the first person singular suffix from the present tense indicative (namely, the –o).  However, there are a couple of verbs that don’t fit neatly into this process. 

Verbs whose first person singular conjugation end in –y, such as estar (estoy), ser (soy), and dar (doy), all have irregular conjugations:


estar (to be)
Quieren que yo esté en la fiesta.  They want me to be at the party.
Espero que vosotros no estéis en casa.  I hope that you all are not at home.
Ellos desean que estemos en el cine.  They want us to be at the theater.
Necesito que tú estés en la reunion.  I need you to be at the meeting.
No puedo creer que estén aquí Uds.  I can’t believe that you all are here.

ser (to be)
Mi amigo espera que yo sea paciente.  My friend hopes that I am patient.
Necesito que tú seas paciente.  I need you to be patient.
Dicen que seamos amables.  They tell us to be friendly.
Espero que seáis puntuales.  I hope that you all are punctual.
Sugiero que sean simpáticos.  I suggest that you all be nice.

dar (to give)
Necesito que me des el informe.  I need you to give me the report.
Ellos quieren que yo les el informe.  They want me to give them the report.
El profesor pide que le demos nuestros ensayos.  The professor asks us to give him our essays.
Necesito que vosotros me deis vuestros papeles.  I need you all to give me your papers.
Espero que Uds. me den la tarea a tiempo.  I hope you all give me the homework on time.

ir (to go)
Mi madre necesita que yo vaya a la tienda.  My mother needs me to go to the store.
Necesito que tú vayas a la escuela conmigo.  I need you to go to the school with me.
Ella necesita que vayamos a la librería.  She needs us to go to the bookstore.
Prefiero que vosotros vayáis inmediatamente.  I prefer you all go immediately.
Espero que ellos vayan al aeropuerto ahora mismo.  I hope they go to the airport right now.

The verb saber (to know) also exhibits an irregular subjunctive conjugation: 
No creo que él sepa la respuesta.  I don’t believe that he knows the answer.
Necesito que sepas la materia.  I need you to know the subject.
El profesor exige que sepamos las respuestas.  The professor demands that we know the answers.
La maestra espera que sepáis las datos.  The teacher hopes that you all know the facts.
Sugerimos que Uds. sepan escribir bien.  We suggest that you know how to write well.

The verb caber (to fit) is highly irregular (the yo form is quepo):
Espero que la falda me quepa.  I hope that the skirt fits me.
Esperamos que los zapatos te quepan.  We hope that the shoes fit you.
Espero que te quepas en el carro chico.  I hope that you fit in the small car.
Dudo que nos quepamos en ese carro.  I doubt that we’ll fit in that car.

El maestro espera que os quepáis en las sillas.  The teacher hopes you all fit in the chairs.

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