The Sublime Subjunctive
We were just getting into the nuances of the preterite and copreterite tenses when we ran out of space —but not time. All time is relative, especially in Spanish, and perhaps even more so in Mexico. To recap our last conversation, we saw that the preterite tense should be used when we refer to an action that takes place at a specific time or during a specific time span: “Comí a las seis de la tarde” or “Nos escribimos de 1991 a 1994.” (“I had dinner at 6 pm” or “We wrote to each other from 1991 to 1994.”) The copreterite (or imperfect) tense is to be used when we wish to denote an action that happened customarily or that has no specific time frame, outside of the fact that it occurred in the past.
It should also be pointed out that the copreterite can also denote that we were going to do something, or that something was going to happen, but that we —or it— didn’t: “Iba a hablarte por telefóno, pero tuve que atender un asunto urgente.” (“I was going to call you, but I had to attend some urgent business.” Note the use of the preterite in tuve, which implies that the need to attend that urgent business was perfectly encased in a specific time frame. As for the going, well... we never made the call; that’s why we used the copreterite.) This tense can also denote deference: “Venía para pedirle una carta de recomendación.” (“I came — or ‘I’ve come’ — to ask you for a letter of recommendation.”)
So we must be careful not to say or write things like “Ayer llegaba a las 6:30,” instead of “...llegué a las 6:30,” unless we mean that we were going to arrive at 6:30, but something unexpected happened... This has been a quick overview of the differences between the preterite and the copreterite tenses, and now we can move on to the third problem of the “Big Three”: the subjunctive.Believe it or not, the subjunctive does exist in English, although it is used less and less frequently. Back in the 60’s when I was in grammar school, we were taught to say “If I were rich, I’d do this and that” instead of “If I was rich...,” which seems to be in the process of becoming the norm. We are hardly aware of the subjunctive in English because many of its forms are identical to the indicative or take the infinitive: “I doubt he was telling the truth” or “I want you to come to dinner.” In Spanish, though, it’s a whole different ballgame.
What is the subjunctive? Why is it used? The subjunctive is a mood, not a tense. It doesn’t merely indicate when something hap¬pened but the circumstances surrounding the action. When we conjugate a verb in the subjunctive we express supposition, doubt, desire, hypothesis or possibility. For example: “Quiero que vengas.” By no means should we use the indicative form of “venir,” vienes, because the speaker is expressing his desire for someone else to do something. In English the second verb simp¬ly takes the infinitive: “I want you to come.”
If I doubt something, I can express it by using the sub¬junc¬tive mood for the verb whose action I’m doubting: “Dudo que llegue a tiempo” (I doubt he will arrive on time). Notice that the subjunctive in the present tense —vengas, llegue— has a certain “future” flavor: if the action of coming or arriving in these two cases were actually to take place, it would occur in the future.
When recommending something, we will most likely use the subjunctive: “Recomiendo que veas esta película,” “Es importante que sepas la verdad” (“I recommend you see this movie,” “It’s important you know the truth”). If we were to use the in¬dicative mood —ves, sabes— our sentences just wouldn’t make sense. If one were to refer to a hypothetical situation, he or she would also employ the subjunctive: “Es posible que el Presidente no quiera contestar a las preguntas” (It’s possible that the President may not want to answer questions).
As you may have noticed, we usually use the subjunctive in compound sentences. The first part is usually in the indicative (“Yo quiero que..., Es posible que..., Quiero que..., Es importante, etc.). The verb corresponding to the second part of the sentence is usually the one to be conjugated in the subjunctive mood (...me ames, ...llore, ...comprendas). But it is perfectly correct to do it the other way around: “Que diga la verdad es improbable” (That he should tell the truth is improbable.)
Until now we have only seen the present subjunctive, but there are subjunctive forms for all the tenses. The only tense that is used infrequently in the subjunctive is the future, and then it is only found in literature: “Si yo llegare a saber que me has traicionado, serás aniquilado sin piedad” (“If I come to know that you have betrayed me, you will be mercilessly annihilated”). In common discourse we would use the normal past subjunctive used in conditional sentences: “Si yo llegara a saber que...”
These are the subjunctive forms of the verb cantar, “to sing,” in the first person: past, cantara o cantase (either one is correct); present, cante; future, cantare. With compound verbs formed with haber: past: hubiera o hubiese; present, haya; fu¬ture, hubiere.
If you have a specific question you would like to ask me, I would be happy
to discuss it with you here in this coluumn. Feel free to e-mail me at sandrocohen@gmail.com
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