Uses of the subjunctive

mood in Spanish and in

English

Héctor López Vila

Lenguas Modernas Cultura y Comunicación
Trabajo de Fin de Grado
Tutor: Susana Murcia
Curso escolar: 2012/2013
Convocatoria Ordinaria
 Abstract

One of the main differences between English and Spanish is the existence of the
subjunctive mood. In Spanish certain verbs select the subjunctive mood obligatorily in
embedded clauses. On the contrary, the subjunctive mood has limited uses in English.

Spanish authors have traditionally analysed the subjunctive mood using a syntactic
approach, but we need to incorporate semantics and pragmatics in order to provide a proper
study.

On the other hand, many authors defend that the subjunctive mood does not really exist in
Modern English or has almost disappeared from informal registers.

The aim of this paper is not only to present the uses of the subjunctive in both languages,
taking into consideration different opinions and approaches, but also to provide a
comparison between both languages, in order to analyse problems that students of English
as a Foreign Language can have in the translation of Spanish subjunctive clauses into
English.

ii
 Index

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................1
2. The English subjunctive .................................................................................3
2.2 Opinions against the existence of the subjunctive mood..........................3
2.3 Opinions in favour of the existence of the subjunctive mood in English.5
2.3.1 The Present Subjunctive .................................................................5
2.3.1.1 The mandative subjunctive.......................................................6
2.3.1.2 Formulaic subjunctive ..............................................................7
2.3.2 The Past Subjunctive.......................................................................7
2.3.2.1 Be- subjunctive.........................................................................7
2.3.2.2 Some Conditional clauses ........................................................7
2.3.3 Stylistic and geographical variants .................................................8
2.4 Doubtful forms of subjunctive..................................................................9
2.5 Conclusions about English Subjunctive mood .......................................11
3. Spanish Subjunctive .....................................................................................13
3.1 Introduction.............................................................................................13
3.2 The Traditional view: Bello’s Grammar ................................................13
3.3 A modern view: The subjunctive according to the RAE........................15
3.3.1 Potential subjunctive.....................................................................16
3.3.1.1 Independent sentences ............................................................16
3.3.1.2 Subordinated clauses ..............................................................16
3.3.2 Optional subjunctive .....................................................................19
3.3.2.1 Independent clauses................................................................19
3.2.2.2 Subordinate clauses ................................................................20
3.4 Other uses of the Subjunctive. ................................................................22
3.5 Conclusions about the Spanish subjunctive mood. ................................23
4. Study of the use of subjunctive mood among Spanish EFL students..........25
4.1 Conclusions about the questionnaire ......................................................29
5. Final conclusions..........................................................................................30
6. Bibliography.................................................................................................31
7. Appendix 1: Questionnaire ..........................................................................32

iii
1. Introduction
As a student of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) I have found some aspects that make
my learning process difficult. One of these aspects is the subjunctive mood, very common
in Spanish but very rare and unusual in English. There are some subjunctive clauses in
Spanish which have a difficult translation into English. The aim of this paper is to provide a
proper analysis of the subjunctive mood in both languages by describing all the cases in
which it is used, and try to organize them, in order to help Spanish students to translate
subjunctive clauses properly.

The methodology used in this study consisted in compiling information from different
guides, grammars and studies of English and Spanish, in order to identify whether the
subjunctive is required in the translation into English. After this analysis of the data, I have
requested some students of EFG to translate some sentences with the subjunctive mood
from Spanish to English in order to know if they make mistakes or not.

However, the study of the English subjunctive is not an easy task, because there is no a
uniform opinion about it. Authors, have different opinions about the real existence of the
subjunctive mood in English. In this essay, I will provide not only opinions for and against
the existence of a subjunctive mood in English, but also cases in which these experts do not
have a clear opinion about it.

On the contrary, the subjunctive mood in Spanish has been studied even in the most
traditional grammars, as the mood has a clear use in this language. Furthermore, modern
authors have provided more approaches to these studies, as semantics and pragmatics have
contributed to the study of the Spanish language in last years.

Before I start with the proper analysis, I would like to comment on how Spanish and
English authors have defined the notions of mood and subjunctive in order to understand the
different positions about the topic.

According to Quirk et al. (1985:149) mood is a property of finite verbs, and it expresses a

1
condition of the predication. On one hand the indicative mood is the “unmarked” mood, that
is, the most usual in the speech, on the other hand, the subjunctive is the “marked” mood,
the unusual mood in the speech, used to express a wish or recommendations:
“Mood indicates the factual, non factual or counterfactual status of the predication
[…] in contrast to the unmarked indicative mood we distinguish the marked mood
subjunctive (used to express a wish, recommendations etc)”. (Quirk et al., 1985:149)

Swan (2005: 559) points out that the subjunctive is a property of some languages 1 which is
used to talk about situations that possible or desirable, but not real.
“Some languages have special verb forms called subjunctive which are used to talk
about unreal situations: things which are possible, desirable or imaginary

In Spanish, grammarians have also defined the notion of mood and the notion of
subjunctive. The Real Academia de la Lengua (RAE) (1980:454) points out that mood is
used to express speaker’s attitude about the speech. The indicative mood is used to express
reality and the subjunctive mood is used to express unreality:
“entre los medios gramaticales que denotan la actitud del hablante respecto a lo que
se dice se encuentran las formas de la conjugación conocidas por modos […]. Las
formas modales del subjuntivo e indicativo son expresiones de la oposición
realidad/no realidad”.

To conclude this introduction, we can define mood as a property of the language which
denotes the attitude of the speakers about the reality of the process of speech. The indicative
mood, the unmarked mood, is used to express that the statement is real. On the other hand,
the subjunctive mood, the marked one, is used to express unreal wishes and possibility.

In this essay, I will present different opinions about the existence of the subjunctive mood in
English. Furthermore, I will explain how different grammarians have explained the
subjunctive mood in Spanish. Finally, I will show how EFL students translate subjunctive
clauses from Spanish to English in order to know if they translate them correctly.

1
As I will explain later, this author does not believe in the existence of the subjunctive in English
2
2. The English subjunctive

The existence of the subjunctive mood in English has received many considerations by
grammarians. This mood has been explained in many different ways by different grammars
and use of English guides. Although this mood appears in the traditional Grammars, some
experts have negated its existence in English. On the other hand, many authors consider that
the subjunctive is still present in English. However, they make a distinction in the use of the
subjunctive between the formal and the informal style, and American and British English.
Furthermore, some authors have given the Subjunctive mood the name of Unreal Past.
Taking this information into account, we can consider that the study of this mood in English
is a difficult issue because different opinions. In this section, I will analyse some proposals
concerning the existence or lack of the subjunctive mood in English and I will try to
organise them, in order to clarify and provide a proper analysis of the status of subjunctive
mood in the modern English.

2.2 Opinions against the existence of the subjunctive mood

In order to be clear, I am going to start providing opinions against the existence of a real
subjunctive mood in English. Swan (2005:559) points out that the subjunctive mood is a
form remaining from older English which disappeared in Modern English:
“Older English had subjunctives but in modern English they have mostly replaces by
uses of should, would and other modal verbs, by special uses of past tenses and by
ordinary verb forms”

Swan only recognises two remaining cases of the mood: on one hand, in the verb to be
(which we will study in detail in the section 2.3.2) and, on the other hand, in the use of the
conjunction lest. Lest is a conjunction of reason whose meaning is closet to in case, and is,
in Swan’s opinion, “rare in British English and is found in older literature and in ceremonial
language.” (2005:102).

To conclude, the following example (1) taken from Swan (2005) shows lest followed by a
subjunctive verb:

(1) The government must act, lest the problem of child poverty grow worse

3
Secondly, there are some authors whose opinion is close to Swan’s, but with some
differences. Side and Wellman (2005) defend the inexistence of the subjunctive mood in the
past, although they think that it is used exceptionally in certain fixed phrases in present.
They stand up for the idea of a temporal variant called the Unreal Past which is a special
use of the Past Perfect and Past Simple, although they defend the existence of the
exceptional be subjunctive:
“The subjunctive has limited uses in English […] the Past subjunctive exists only in
were in all persons […] Unreal Past tenses[…] are used especially to talk about
impossible, unlikely or hypothetical conditions. We use Past Simple form to talk
about the present and future, and a Past Perfect form to talk about the past (Side and
Wellman 2005:81).

As the cases Side and Wellman call Unreal Past are considered subjunctive mood by other
authors, I will explain them in detail in Section 2.3 below, as I consider these forms
exceptional cases, because they do not have special morphological markers and they also
have variants in indicative mood.

Side and Wellman (2005) add that the Present subjunctive is found in some exceptional
phrases that do no change. These sentences are idioms that are always invariable in all
contexts:
Present subjunctive is used in certain fixed phrases and in formal impersonal
English. In more informal language we use the Present Simple or should. (Side and
Wellman 2005:82).

They give some examples for these particular phrases, which I provide below as examples
(2) and (3).

(2) Long live the Queen

(3) Heaven forbid!

These fixed expressions, which are very common in English, are explained in the section
2.3, as a subcategory of the Present Subjunctive as they are included in a more complex
classification of the subjunctive in English made by other authors.

To conclude this section, I have explained some opinions against the existence of the
English subjunctive mood. I have shown two different developments of this idea: for Swan,
the subjunctive mood is only a particular feature of Old English, with only two exceptional
cases:
4
 ™ The use of the particle lest which demands subjunctive mood
™ The Be subjunctive (see section 2.3.2.1)

On the other hand, Side and Wellman explain that the subjunctive mood is present in
Modern English only within a special tense called Unreal Past and within some fixed
expressions.

In the next sections I will develop ideas in favour of the existence of the mood, I will
organise them, and finally I will develop in detail the concepts of the be subjunctive and
Unreal Past because they are proper subjunctive forms to some authors.

2.3 Opinions in favour of the existence of the subjunctive mood in English

In this section I will show some opinions in favour of the existence of the subjunctive mood
in English. I will start using the classification made by Quirk et al. (1985) and I will
complete it including some new uses that other experts classify as subjunctive mood.

To begin with, Quirk et al. (1985) point out that the subjunctive mood is not as unusual as
we could think, although they consider some geographical variations, as I will explain later:
The subjunctive mood in modern English is generally an optional and stylistically
somewhat marked variant of other constructions, but it is not so unimportant as is
sometimes suggested (1985:155)

These authors divide the subjunctive mood in two major forms: the present subjunctive and
the past subjunctive, which I will explain in sections 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 respectively.

2.3.1 The Present Subjunctive

The main feature of the Present Subjunctive is that it is realised by the base form of the
verb. Thus, if the clause has a plural subject, there will be no difference between the
indicative and subjunctive forms, except with the verb be, which is always realised by the
be form. It is possible to find sentences in which the indicative and subjunctive moods are
indistinguishable, as in example (4), while in others is clearly subjunctive, as in examples
(5) and (6):
(4) I insist that we reconsider the Council’s decisions [indicative or subjunctive]
(5) I insist that the Council reconsider its decision [only subjunctive]
(6) I insist the Council’s decisions be reconsidered/ I insist the Council’s decision be
reconsidered [both subjunctive]

5
The Present subjunctive is divided in Quirk et al. (1985) in two different categories: the
mandative subjunctive and the formulaic subjunctive which I will explain separately below.

2.3.1.1 The mandative subjunctive

The mandative subjunctive is probably the most common use of the subjunctive; it occurs in
subordinate that-clauses, and is formed by the base form of the verb only. The typical
English concord between subject and finite verb does not happen in the subjunctive mood.
Furthermore, the present and the past variants are formally indistinguishable. Semantically,
this subjunctive realises the function of demand, recommendation, proposal, resolution or
intention depending on the verb. (Plotnik, 2007: 5).

One special feature of this subjunctive is the negative form, which is made by placing not
before the subjunctive form, as in example (7). Exceptionally, with the verb be, not can be
placed either before or after the verb, as in example (8):
(7) It is essential that this mission not fail
(8) The Senate has decreed that such students not be/be not exempted from college

Kaixin (1996) provides a detailed distribution of the subjunctive mood:

1. After the following verbs: insist, propose, recommend, move, order, ask

(9) They propose that the demonstration take place in the new room
(10) I insist that they cut all the flowers

Of course, these verbs can be used in Past Tenses, but, as I said before, the form of the verb
will not change, as Quereda (1996) shows in the following example:

(11) John suggested that they try to stay with him

Passive voice can also be use with these verbs. Again, the subjunctive mood is formed by
the verb base, without any change as in (12):

(12) It is required that the machine be oiled (Kaixin, 1996)

2. We also find the subjunctive after nouns derived from the verbs listed above:

(13) His request that he be admitted was granted

(14) My suggestion is that he be sent there

3. We have the subjunctive mood after some adjectives: important, crucial…

6
(15) It is crucial that you be there in person
(16) It is necessary that the flow of cooling be kept steady
4. Finally, we have the subjunctive with lest 2 /fear that

(17) The president must reject this proposal lest it cause strife

2.3.1.2 Formulaic subjunctive

The formulaic subjunctive is used in some fixed expressions chiefly in independent clauses.
It is considered formal and old-fashioned in style. Semantically, this subjunctive implies not
only an expression of willingness, but also an expression of contingency or possibility-
whose paraphrase is introduced by let or may-. (Quirk et al., 1985:158).
(18) God save the Queen [May God save the Queen
(19) Suffice it to say that we won [Let it suffice…]

2.3.2 The Past Subjunctive

2.3.2.1 Be- subjunctive

The be subjunctive is semantically used to express hypothetical or unreal situations

(Plotnik, 2007), normally it is introduced by conjunctions such as if, as if, as though. It also
appears with the verbs wish and suppose. This subjunctive is formed with the form were in
all persons (Quirk et al., 1985:158).

(20) If I were rich, I would buy you anything you wanted

(21) I wish the journey were over
(22) Just suppose everyone were rich

2.3.2.2 Some Conditional clauses

For some authors (Kaixin, 1996) we can find past subjunctive, in some conditional clauses,
since in this cases the clauses express a situation that it is not real or it expresses a wish, as
in:
(23) If she loved me, I would be the happiest man in the world
(24) If she had had time yesterday she would have called you

However, some authors claim that these verbal forms which appear in the conditional
clauses are not subjunctive. According to Quereda (1996) we can only distinguish between

2
We have to remember that, according to Swan, (2005) this is one of the only two cases of subjunctive.
7
indicative and subjunctive when there is a formal verbal distinction as it happens with the
be subjunctive or in the mandative subjunctive. He points out, that we can explain the
subjunctive mood not only with semantic criteria, but also with syntactic ones. He claims
that in these cases, it is, in fact, a single verb tense used in different contexts (in indicative
mood):
En ingles contemporáneo no se debe considerar como subjuntiva ninguna forma que
no esté formalmente marcada[…] es mucho mas coherente hablar de una misma
forma que puede usarse en dos contextos diferentes, que hablar de dos formas, de
indicativo y de subjuntivo homónimas

2.3.3 Stylistic and geographical variants

In the previous sections I have show different proposals in favour of the existence of the
systematic subjunctive mood, according to Quirk et al. (1985), among other authors.
However, they recognise that the subjunctive mood is inconsistent, and it has stylistic and
geographical variations, especially, in the mandative and in the be subjunctive. These forms
have been replaced in informal situations by indicative structures, as I will explain in detail
below.

™ Variation in the mandative mood

The mandative subjunctive is more characteristic of American English (AmE) than of

British English (BrE), where it is formal and rather legalistic in style. In informal BrE the
mandative subjunctive it is normally replaced by the modal should and the indicative mood,
as it is shown in this examples from Quirk et al. (1985:1182).

(25) a. People are demanding that se leave the company [formal BrE-formal/informal AmE]
(25) b. People are demanding that she should leave the company [Informal BrE/AmE]
(25) c. People are demanding that she leaves the company [only in BrE]

(26) a. I insisted that the cut all the flowers [formal BrE and Formal or Informal AmE]
(26) b. I insisted that he should cut all the flowers [Informal BrE/AmE]
(26) c. I insisted that he cuts all the flowers [only in BrE]

™ Variations in the Be Subjunctive

The be subjunctive it is still in common use, particularly with clauses introduces by as if

and as though. But in very informal situations in both AmE and BrE it is preferred to use

8
 was in 1st and 3rd person singular:

(27) a. If I were rich [formal situations]

(27) b. If I was rich [very informal situations]

However, in subject inversion was is not an acceptable alternative:

(28) a. Were she here, she would support the motion

(28) b. * Was she here, she would support the motion

In this table I summarise the cases in which authors talk about subjunctive:

Table 1: Summary of English subjunctive Pure Forms

Pure Forms of Subjuntive
Past Subjunctive
Were subjunctive (Quirk et al., 1985) Unreal Past (Conditional) (Side and Wellman, 2002)

If I were you/ If I was you If she loved me, I would be the happiest man in the world
I wish the journey were over/ I wish the journey was
over Conditionals clauses presenting a condition about a past fact
Just suppose everyone were rich/ Just suppose everyone (Kaixin, 1996)
was rich If she has had time yesterday she would have called you
Mandative subjunctive(Quirk et al., 1985) / Present Subjunctive
(Quirk et al., 1985) (Kaixin, 1996)

His sole requirement is that the system work
It is essential that the ban be lifted tomorrow/
It is essential that the ban should be lifted/is lifted
tomorrow
- After verbs: Suggest, Insist propose, recommend, move, order,
ask, insist:
They proposed that the demonstration (should) take place in the new
room
I insisted that thy cut all the flower (Quirk et al.,1985)

The employees have demanded that the manager resign/ o Past tenses: John suggested that they try to stay with
The employees have demanded that the manager should him (Quereda,1996)
resign/resigns
Negative form: it is essential that the mission not fail/ it o Passive voice: It is required that the machine be oiled
is essential that the mission doest fail
- After nouns derivate from the verbs listed before:
His request that he be admitted was granted
My suggestion is that he be sent there

- After adjectives: Necessary, important, crutial…

It is crucial that you be there in person
Formulaic Subjunctive (Quirk et al.,1985)
Good save the Queen

2.4 Doubtful forms of subjunctive

Finally, there are some cases in which grammarians have different opinions about the mood
of the verb tense use in some constructions. Some of these examples can be realised in
diverse ways in some contexts, thus the issue is more controversial because it is difficult to

9
reach a definite conclusion. The following examples can be explained as:

™ Cases of subjunctive mood because they semantically refer to an unreal or desirable

action (Kaixin, 1996:3) and (Plotnik, 2007:1)
™ Cases of Unreal Past 3 and not cases of subjunctive
™ Cases of indicative forms used in different contexts 4

1. Adverbial clauses
This case only appears in the study made by Kaixin (1996). These adverbial clauses express
a condition that it is not true or is desirable:

(29)I’ll work all night if need be

(30)Be rich or poor I will marry him all the same

2. After the structure it’s time

After the structure it’s time it appears a past tense which indicates a wish or a request. As
the example (31) shows in this context the verb tense can be replaced by the infinitive,
especially in informal British English:

(31) It’s time the city was cleaned up

(32) a. It’s time we left
(32) b. It’s time to leave [Informal BrE]

3. Adverbial clause introduced by as if or as though

In this case, we have a close that expresses suggestion of a fact that goes against a present
condition, that is, that the speaker present an action that is not true:
(33)He talks as if he knew everything about it
(34)He acts as though he owned the place
4. Perfective forms had been done

It is used to express subjunctive wishes that run counter to the past facts. It can be used
with the verb wish:

3
We have to remember that according to Side and Wellman (1985), Unreal Past tenses are used especially to
talk about impossible situations. The Past Simple form is used to talk about the present and future, and the
Past Perfect form is used to talk about the past.
4
As I explained in the previous section, according to Quereda (1996) if there is no formal distinction, in
other words, if the subjunctive mood and the indicative are indistinguishable, there is an indicative form.
10
(35)I’d rather he had gone to class last week

With the verb wish:

(36)I wish I had been there yesterday

5. After would rather and would sooner:

This case only appears in Side and Wellman (1985). It is used to express preferences

(37) a. Do you mean you’d sooner I weren’t

(37) b. Do you mean you’d sooner wasn’t here?

Table 2: Sumary of the doubtful subjunctive forms of English

Doubtful Subjunctive
™ Cases of Unreal Past (Side and Wellman, 2002
™ Cases of subjunctive mood (Kaixin 1996), (Plotnik,2007)
™ Cases of indicative forms used in different contexts (Quereda,1996)
Adverbial clauses *I’ll work all night if need be
(This case only appears on Kaixin ,1996) *Be rich or poor. I will marry him all the same

After the structure its time * 5 It’s time the city was cleaned up
**It´s time we left/ to leave

Adverbial clause introduced by as if *He talks as if he knew everything about it

**He acts as though he owned/owns the place
or as though
Perfective forms had been *With the verb Wish: I wish I had been there
yesterday
done(conditional) *I’d rather he had gone to class last week
After would rather and would sooner **Do you mean you’d sooner I weren’t/ wasn’t
here?
(preferences)
(This case only appears on Side and Wellman
(2002)

2.5 Conclusions about English Subjunctive mood

In my opinion, and taking into account all of this information, we can not talk about a
proper subjunctive mood in English, at least in British English. I think that there are some
rests of this mood in the language, but in general, it has been replaced by other forms, such
as the modal verbs or even the indicative mood. Thus, the inexistence of the subjunctive
does not entail that we can not express unreality in English, as modal verbs and Past Tenses
are used to express it.

*Examples from Kaixin (1996)

**examples from Side and Wellman (2002)
11
However, I think that in American English the subjunctive mood is more consistent, as we
can perceive that it is more used that in British English. It is possible that American English
have an influence in BrE in the future and make the mood appear again, but maybe, the
subjunctive mood is likely to disappear in the future in this variant, excluding the formulaic
expressions such as God save the Queen, Lest we forget etc that possibly will remain in the
formal spoken and written language.

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3. Spanish Subjunctive
3.1 Introduction

The study of the Spanish subjunctive is not as controversial as the study of the English
subjunctive. The notion of this mood appears in all the literature about Spanish grammar, as it
has more presence than in English, that is, speakers know instinctively when it is required to
use the indicative mood and when is required to use the subjunctive mood. Furthermore, the
Spanish language does not have as many modal verbs as English, so modality in Spanish is
principally expressed by the mood 6 .

However, the study of the subjunctive in Spanish has changed in the last decades: different
schools of thought have named the uses of the subjunctive mood differently. Furthermore,
pragmatics has provided new proposals to the topic presenting new functions which have not
been studied before.

In this section, I will present different approaches concerning the topic and I will organise
them, in order to clarify and give a proper analysis of the status of the subjunctive mood in
Spanish. I will start with the most traditional views, secondly I will provide new views from
the Real Academia Española and other authors, and finally, I will complete these views with
approaches from pragmatics.

3.2 The Traditional view: Bello’s Grammar

In order to be clear, I am going to start the analysis of the subjunctive with the traditional
grammar by Bello. According to this author, mood is a relative notion marked by the words
and clauses that the verb depends on:
“Llámense modos las inflexiones del verbo en cuanto provienen de la influencia o
régimen de una palabra o frase a que esté o pueda estar subordinado[…] siendo el
régimen lo que verdaderamente distingue a los modos, solo por él podemos
clasificarlos”(Bello, 1988:359-361)

Bello points out that the subjunctive mood is subdivided in some categories: the subjuntivo
común and the subjuntivo hipotético depending on the regimen of words. In this paper I
will call them common subjunctive and hypothetical subjunctive respectively.

6
As I explained in the introduction the mood express the reality or unreality of the speech
13
The common subjunctive is called in this way because it appears subjunto that is,
subordinated to a main verb (Bello, 1988:362). According to this author, the common
subjunctive appears with the verbs dudar or desears:
(38) Deseo que estudiases

This type of subjunctive has two subtypes: subjuntivo optativo (which I will call optional
subjunctive) and the imperative form. The optional subjunctive appears in independent
clauses which depend on the verb decir or similar, because the subordinate clause reflects
the expression of wish (Bello, 1988:364).

(39) nada te adrede de tu honrado propósito. [Dijo que nada te adrede…]

The other subtype of this common subjunctive is the imperative form. In Bello’s opinion,
the imperative is not an independent mood, but is a special case in which the speaker orders
his/her own wish that the listener must fulfil:
“Las formas optativas reciben una inflexión especial cuando la persona a quien
hablamos es la que debe cumplir el deseo, y lo que se desea se supone depender
(sic) de su voluntad” (Bello, 1988:364)

(40) Di lo que se te pregunta

Besides the common subjunctive mood points out that there is another type of subjunctive
called hipotético (which I will call hypothetical) because it expresses a condition or a
hypothesis. This mood is peculiar to the Spanish language because it did not exist in Latin.
It only has two forms the simple one (cantare) and the complex one (hubiere cantado).
This case is very strange in Modern Spanish, and it is rarely used. It is normally substituted
by the common subjunctive.

(Ex 41) Si alguien llamare a la puerta le abrirás > Si alguien llamase a la puerta le abrirás.

In conclusion, in Bello’s opinion, the subjunctive is subdivided in two major forms: the
common subjunctive and the hypothetical subjunctive. The common subjunctive is
subdivided in optional and imperative:
Tenemos pues dos modos enteramente distintos: el indicativo y el subjuntivo: pero
este ultimo se subdivide en subjuntivo común y subjuntivo hipotético. El subjuntivo
común presta sus formas a un cuarto Modo, el optativo, y el optativo tiene una
forma particular en que se llama imperativo (Bello, 1988:367).

14
In the following table I summarise the concepts made by Bello:

Table 3: Summary of the subjunctive mood according to Bello

Hypothetical subjunctive (rare)

• To express hypothesis

Si alguien hubiere llegado de la ciudad, le preguntarás que hay nuevo

Common subjunctive
Optional subjunctive
• Expressed by the verbs desear and dudar
Deseo que estudiases • Independent clauses
Dudamos de que goces de buena salud Plugiese a Dios que no te fueras por el
mal camino
• Imperativo
Sé hombre de bien

3.3 A modern view: The subjunctive according to the RAE

In this section I will provide the thesis made by the grammar by the Real Academia
Española and modern authors who have completed this view with uses that the RAE does
not contemplate in its Grammar.

According to the RAE, traditional grammars that claimed that the subjunctive should be
used if the main verb expresses doubt, possibility or wishing are mistaken because the
mood depends on the speaker’s attitude. Thus, the speaker can choose between the
indicative and the subjunctive depending on the intensity of the doubt:
En la realidad del habla, los términos de esta clasificación (si el verbo expresa duda
usamos el subjuntivo) se confunden entre sí, porque el modo depende de la actitud
del hablante, es decir, de cómo viva en cada caso los matices y grados d la duda y
deseo (RAE, 2000:455)

The classification made by the RAE is not a group of rules, but a precise interpretation of
the uses of the subjunctive (ibidem). According to this grammar, there are two types of
subjunctive in Spanish: the subjuntivo potencial and the subjuntivo optativo, which I will
call in this paper potential subjunctive and optional subjunctive respectively. The first one
is used to express doubtful or possible actions and the second one is used to express
necessary or desired actions.

15
3.3.1 Potential subjunctive

As I mentioned before, the potential subjuntive is used to express doubtful or possible

actions. It cannot only appear in subordinated clauses, but also clauses. As it has limited
uses in independent clauses, I will start providing it uses in these clauses. Then I will
explain the cases in which the subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses, in which the
subjunctive mood depends on the type of verb of the main clause. Finally, I will complete
the proposals by the RAE with other uses provided by other authors.

3.3.1.1 Independent sentences

This subjunctive can appear in independent clauses if they contain an adverb of doubt.
However, the use of the subjunctive is not compulsory, it can appear to intensify the doubt,
but the indicative mood is also possible:
En oraciones independientes con algún adverbio de duda, el verbo puede estar en
subjuntivo o en indicativo, según el carácter más o menos dubitativo que el hablante
quiera dar a su expresión (RAE, 2000:456).

(42) a. Tal vez se hayan ido [more doubtful: the speaker uses subjunctive mood]
(42) b. Tal vez se han ido [less doubtful: the speaker uses indicative mood]

3.3.1.2 Subordinated clauses

The potential subjunctive can appear in many independent clauses, depending on the verb
of the main clause as detailed below:

1. Verbs of doubt or ignorance:

• When the speaker ignores, has a doubt or knows the unreality about the
speech act, the subordinate clause of these verbs tends to be in the
subjunctive mood. However, the speaker can use the indicative mood with a
lower degree of doubt, as I show in examples (43.a) and (43.b):

(43) a. Ignoraba que hubieses llegado [less doubtful]

(43) b. Ignoraba que habías llegado [more doubtful]

16
 • In relative clauses the verb is used in indicative mood if the antecedent is
known, but if the antecedent is unknown or doubtful the subordinate verb is
used in the subjunctive mood, instead:
(44) a. Haré lo que usted manda [known antecent]
(44) b. Haré lo que usted mande [unknown antecent]

The sentence in (44.a) expresses a future action, and future is normally more doubtful than
the present or the past, so it requires the subjunctive mood (RAE, 2000:457).

• Expression with que yo sepa, que yo recuerde

By using these expressions, the speaker expresses his doubt about the subordinate clause
said in indicative:
(45) Que yo sepa, solo circulan dos informes de su obra

2. Verbs of fear and emotion

• When the speaker expresses a fear about an unreal event, the verb is normally used
in subjunctive (example 46.a). However, it is possible to use the verb in Present (ex.
46.b) or Past(ex.46.c) of the indicative mood:
(ex.46).a Tengo miedo de que lleguen tarde [The event has not happened yet]
(ex.46). b Temo que van a llegar tarde
(ex.46). c Temí que Luis llegaba tarde

• With verbs of emotion in future, the subordinate clause appears in subjunctive

because the speaker expresses an emotion about an unreal event that can happen in
the future or not, as in example (47):

(47) Le molestaría que no fuésemos a buscarla a la estación [The event has not happened
yet]

• Emotion about a real event. The verb expresses a real action in present or past
subjunctive because the speaker wants to emphasise his emotion about the event:
“el verbo regido expresa en estos casos una acción real en tiempo presente o
pasado de subjuntivo; porque es tal la fuerza subjetivadora de los
sentimientos que imprimen su matiz modal al verbo subordinado, afirme o
no afirme la realidad del evento (RAE, 2000:458).

(48) Me alegro de que te guste esa novela [the event happens in the present, and the speaker
express his emotion about it]

17
 (49) Me duele que sea tan malo [the event is happening at the moment]

3. Verbs of possibility. When we express an act that it is possibly unreal, the verb
requires the subjunctive mood:
• Ser posible/poder ser/ no poder ser
(50) Es imposible que un hombre conozca todo [unreal event]
• Poder + acontecer, ocurrir o suceder
(51) Podría suceder que se agravase la situación internacional [unreal event that could
happen in the future]

4. Negative forms of some verbs. This case does not appear in the RAE, but I have
decided to include it here because it fits in the categories made by the RAE. This
examples are found in Pamies and Vales (2010):
(52) a. No es verdad que le robaran la cartera [express the unreality of the event]
(52) b. Es verdad que le robaron la cartera [express the reality of the event]

I summarise all of these cases in the next table:

Table 4: Summary of the potential subjunctive (RAE)

Potential subjunctive
Independent clauses
In independent clauses in which the speaker shows a doubt about a fact, the verb can appear in indicative mood or in subjunctive, depending on the attitude
that the speaker wants to show:

Acaso viajemos juntos/ acaso viajaremos juntos [more doubtful/less doubtful]

Quizá lo sepas/ quizá lo sabes [more doubtful/less doubtful]
Subordinated clauses
1.Verbs of doubt or ignorance 2.Verbs of fear and emotion

Dudo de que el jefe esté en su despacho 2.1 Expression of fear about an unreal event (also possible in indicative)
Ignoraba que hubieses llegado
Tengo miedo de que lleguen tarde/ Temo que llegará con retraso
1.1 .Relative clauses if the antecedent is unknown
Haré lo que usted mande [unknown] 2.2 Emotion about a future event
Haré lo que usted manda [known]
Lamentaré que no hayan trabajado bastante
1.2. Expressions such as que yo sepa, que yo recuerde
Que yo sepa no se ha mandado 2.3 Feelings or emotion about an event that is happening in the present

Me alegro de que te guste

Me duele que sea tan malo

3. Verbs of possibility: 4. Negative forms of some verbs:

3.1 Ser posible, poder ser, no poder ser… • no es cierto, no es verdad, no está claro
Es imposible que un hombre conozca todo
No es verdad que le robaran la cartera
3.2 Poder + acontecer, ocurrir o suceder (This case appears in Pamies and Vales, 2010)

Podría suceder que se agravase la situación internacional

18
3.3.2 Optional subjunctive

The optional subjunctive is used to express necessary or desired actions. It can also appear
in subordinated clauses, and in independent clauses. The optional subjunctive has more
uses in independent clauses, as I will explain above. I will also explain the cases in which
the subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses, in which the subjunctive mood depends on
the type of verb of the main clause. Finally, I will complete the proposals by the RAE with
other uses provided by other authors.

3.3.2.1 Independent clauses

1 Sentences that express desire. These sentences are fixed expressions used frequently in
Spanish. The speaker expresses a desire about a fact. Sometimes, the interjection ojalá
appears (Pamies and Vales, 2010:13).
(53) Viva el presidente
(54) En gloria esté
(55) Ojalá mejore el tiempo

2. Imperative use of the subjunctive. In Spanish, the imperative does not have forms when
is used with negative or with usted/ustedes. So, in these cases, the imperative is realised
by the subjunctive (Pamies and Vales, 2010:12):

(56) No te vayas todavía

(57) Váyase usted Imperative meaning
(58)Pónganse el cinturón

2.1. There are some desiderative clauses that start with the conjunction que. In
these cases, the meaning of the clause is between a desire and an order (RAE,
2000:459):
(59) ¡Que te lo pases bien [closer to a desire]
(60) ¡Que se repita! [between an order and a Desire]
(61) ¡Que se vaya! [closer to an order]

19
 3.2.2.2 Subordinate clauses

The optional subjunctive can appear in many independent clauses, depending on the verb of
the main clause as detailed below:

1- Verbs that express a subjective necessity. The verbs which express an action considered
as necessary are constructed with the subjunctive in the subordinate clause. The
necessity can be imposed or not, but the subjunctive is always used:
“La necesidad puede emanar subjetivamente de nuestra voluntad o deseo. O
venirnos impuesta objetivamente desde fuera de nosotros. Está diferencia no afecta
al modo del verbo regido, pero es útil para entender sus matices de significado”
(RAE, 2000:458).

There are some verbs and clauses which express this subjective necessity:

1.1 Verbs of willingness such as mandar, rogar, decidir permitir, aconsejar, querer,
desear and their opposite meaning: prohibir, oponer…
(62) Quiero que lleves mi confesión al Santo Padre
(63)El Presidente decidió que pasáramos allí la noche

1.2 Verbs that imply desire or aversion such as obtener, alcanzar, lograr,
conseguir, esperar, desesperar, confiar, desconfiar, apetecer, because
according to the RAE:
“enunciamos numerosos actos que sin ser propiamente de voluntad, implican un
sentimiento de deseo o aversión. Por eso se construyen frecuentemente con
subjuntivo. (RAE, 200:459)”

(64) Conseguí que me concediesen un aumento

(65)Espero que vuelvan

1.3 Final clauses which express willingness or a desire. These sentences express that
the speaker wants an event to happen.

(66) Vengo a que me paguen [willingness]

(67) Hablaba despacio para que sus alumnos tomasen notas

™ But if the subject is the same in the main clause and in the subordinate one the verb
appears in infinitive, as in example (68):

(68) Vengo a pagar [The speaker does the action of coming and paying]

20
 2 Verbs of objective necessity. There are some verbs and clauses which express this
objective necessity:
2.1 Formulation of absolute judgments. The speaker formulates a judgment
independently of his experience (RAE, 2000:459):

(69) Es necesario que todo efecto tenga su causa

2.2 Formulation of relative judgments.

(70) Era necesario que el pensamiento moderno se reinventase

2.3 Expressions and verbs such as convenir, importar, ser útil, ser bueno, estar
bien demand the use of subjunctive because they imply willingness or desire

(71) Y como no está bien que trate con hombres indignos me marcho

I present all these cases in the next table:

Table 5 Summary of optional subjunctive

Optional subjunctive
Independent clauses
2 Sentences that express desire (fixed expressions)
Viva el presidente
En gloria esté

2. Imperative use of the Subjunctive.

No te vayas todavía
Váyase usted

2.1. Clauses that start with the conjunction que.

¡Que te lo pases bien [closer to a desire]
¡Que se repita! [between an order and a desire]
Subordinate clauses
1. Verbs that express a subjective necessity 2 Verbs of objective necessity.
1.1 Verbs of willing as mandar, rogar, decidir
permitir, aconsejar, querer, desear and his 2.1Formulation of absolute judgments.
contraries: prohibir, oponer…
Es necesario que todo efecto tenga su causa
Quiero que lleves mi confesión al Santo Padre
2.2 Formulation of relative judgments.
1.2 Final clauses which express willingness or a
Era necesario que el pensamiento moderno se reinventase
desire.
2.3 Expressions and verbs such as convenir, importar,
Vengo a que me paguen
ser útil, ser bueno, estar bien demand the use of
subjunctive because they imply willingness or desire

Y como no está bien que trate con hombres indignos me marcho

21
3.4 Other uses of the Subjunctive.

In this section I will provide some uses of the subjunctive in English that do not fit in the
categorization made by the RAE. These uses are studied from a semantic and a pragmatic
point of view that the RAE does not take into account. According to Di Tullio (2007:229),
when we analyse the mood in Spanish we need to have a triple perspective: syntactic,
semantic and pragmatic Other authors consider that there is not a one and only rule that can
explain the use of the subjunctive, but we need to analyse every single case (Pamies and
Vales, 2010:52). In the following paragraphs I will provide the uses that need different
explanations:

1. Politeness. In very formal contexts the subjunctive can be used to express courtesy
(Di Tullio, 2007:229).
(72) Quisiera pedirle un favor

2. Irrelevant fact about the main clause. In this cases the subjunctive mood expresses
the unimportance of a fact that do not change the event expressed in the main clause
(73) Aunque seas mi amiga, no dejaré de señalarte tu error [the fact expressed in the
subordinate clause, though being your friend, does not change the reality of the main
clause, I will tell you your mistake]

3. The negative form of the verb saber. When the verb saber is used in negative
clauses it can appear in indicative or in subjunctive mood. In indicative, it expresses
that the speaker has acquired the knowledge about a fact. In subjunctive, it
expresses that the speaker does not know about a fact (Pamies and Vales, 2010:21):

(74).a No sabía que él estaba en Londres [the speaker did not know about him in the past,
but now, he knows that he was in London
(74).b No sabía que él estuviera en Londres [the speaker did not know that he was in
London, and he do not know about him in the present]

4. Comparative clauses. They can be expressed in indicative or in subjunctive,

depending on the reality or unreality of the comparison. If the comparison is unreal,
it would be formulated in subjunctive. In this case, we can see that although
syntactically is a comparative clause, semantically it would be a hypothetical clause
(Pamies and Vales, 2010:43).

22
(75).a Corre tanto como tú [real comparison]
(76).b Corre como si le persiguiese el demonio [unreal comparison]

5. Superlative. When the speaker uses the superlative form of an adjective the clause
appears in subjunctive to indicate that it is an opinion and not a real fact
(Cillóniz,2013)

(77)Esta es la iglesia más bonita que haya visto en Europa. [Only an opinion]

The next table summarises all the cases presented before:

Table 6: Summary of the other uses of the subjunctive mood in Spanish
Other uses of the subjunctive
1. Politeness
Quisiera pedirle un vaso de agua

2. Irrelevant fact about the main clause

Aunque seas mi amiga, no dejaré de señalarte tu error

3. The negative form of the verb saber

No sabía que él trabajara allí

4. Comparative clauses
Corre como si le persiguiese el demonio

5. Superlative
Esta es la iglesia más bonita que haya visto en Europa

3.5 Conclusions about the Spanish subjunctive mood.

As we have seen in the previous sections, the subjunctive has a lot of presence in the
Spanish language. In order to achieve a deep analysis about the uses of the subjunctive
mood in this language we need to apply different perspectives: semantic, pragmatic and
syntactic, because with this triple analysis we can describe the mood totally.

If we compare the English situation, we can see that speakers do not have a clear perception
of the uses of the subjunctive. As we saw in the previous section, there are a lot of

23
geographical variants in which the subjunctive has been replaced. On the contrary, speakers
have a clear notion of the uses of this mood in Spanish. I have not found any case, in which
speakers use the mood wrongly. If there is a case in which the speaker can use both moods,
it is because there is a change in meaning.

With this information it seems that the translation of subjunctive clauses from Spanish into
English could be problematic, because a Spanish student could not know how to translate
correctly, producing mistranslations. 7

In the next section, I will analyse some problematic cases, taking into account some
translations that EFL students have done in a questionnaire that I gave to them.

7
In this paper I am focusing on EFL students, but probably students of Spanish as a Foreign Language have
problems in the translation of clauses into Spanish subordinate clauses.

24
4. Study of the use of subjunctive mood among Spanish EFL
students
Throughout the sections of this paper, I have provided theoretical background about how
the subjunctive mood is used in Spanish and in English. As a student of EFL I know that
some subjunctive clauses in Spanish are difficult to translate into English.

One of the aims of this essay is to show that Spanish EFL students have problems in the
translation of these clauses.

In order to know how other Spanish EFL students translate subjunctive clauses from
Spanish to English; I gave a questionnaire (see appendix 1) to fifteen EFL undergraduate
students at UAM in which they must show their language skills. These are third and fourth
year students from the degree in Modern Languages (majoring in English as a first
language) and the degree in English Studies.

In this questionnaire I provided twelve Spanish sentences containing subjunctive clauses.

Some of them are easy to translate into subjunctive clauses in English, while others present
cases which have no subjunctive correspondence in English. I wanted to know if they know
how to use the subjunctive in English, even if the sentence in Spanish does not have a
corresponding subjunctive translation in English.

• Sentences which have no corresponding English subjunctive:

Firstly, I provided some sentences which have no corresponding English subjunctive

clauses, provided here as examples (81) to (85).
(81) Me alegro de que te guste
(82) No me diga usted eso
(83) ¡Que te lo pases bien!
(84) Vengo a la universidad para que me enseñen
(85) Te veré cuando acabes la reunión

The translations into English of these sentences are:

(81. a) I’m glad you like it
(82. a) Don’t tell me that
(83. a) Have a good time
(84. a) I come to university to be taught

25
(85. a) I’ll see you when you finish the meeting

All of the students provided the correct translation into English for these five sentences,
except one student who provided a different translation for (85), presented here as (85b):

(85.b) I go to university so that they can teach me

Thus, we can conclude that these students know the correct English grammar of these
sentences, and they can provide correct translation into English of the Spanish subjunctive
mood.
• Sentences of doubtful Subjunctive in English:

Secondly, I provided some Spanish subjunctive clauses that correspond to the doubtful
subjunctive (Section 2.4), that is, clauses that are considered subjunctive by some authors,
but are not considered subjunctive by others.

(86) Siento que los estudiantes no hayan trabajado bastante

(87) Si ella hubiera tenido tiempo te habría llamado

The translations into English of these sentences are

(86.a) I’m sorry /I regret that the students have not worked enough
(87.a) If she had had time, she would have called you

About example (86) nearly all students have translated it correctly, but there are some
exceptions:
™ One student used the Simple Past: I regret that the students did not worked enough
™ One student used the Present Simple: I regret that the students do not worked
enough
™ One Student used the Past Perfect: I regret that the students had not worked enough

We can notice that the morphology of these sentences is wrong: they use the participle
form, but should be use the base form.

Example (87) presents more difficulties, as there are more students that have translated it
wrongly, writing ungrammatical sentences:

™ If she had time, She would have called you (one student)
™ If she would had time, she had phone you (one student)
™ If she would had time, she would have call you (two students)
26
 ™ If she had had time, she would call you (one student)
™ If she had have the time, she would have call you (one student)

This shows that the conditional forms still confuse Spanish students of EFL.

• Sentences with the Spanish subjunctive mood that correspond to English

subjunctive clauses:

Finally, I present sentences in which the subjunctive mood appears both in Spanish and in
English provided below as examples (88) to (92). We could think that these cases would be
less problematic, but, in fact, these sentences tend to be translated wrongly as I will show
later.

(88) Si fuera millonario, tendría un piso en Miami

(89) Insisto en que vengas con nosotros
(90) Es imposible que un hombre conozca todo
(91) Deseo que él vuelva pronto
(92) Es necesario que todo efecto tenga una causa.

The expected translations into English are the following:

(88.a) If I were a millionaire, I would have an apartment in Miami
(89.a) I insist that you come with us
(90.a) It is impossible that a man know everything
(91.a) I wish he came soon
(92.a) It is necessary that every effect have a cause

The example in (88) has been translated correctly by all students. Furthermore, one student
wrote a double answer, indicating that the alternation I were/I was is possible.

Most students knew how to translate example (89), except for three of them, who provided
incorrect alternatives

™ I insist that you coming with us (one student)

™ I insist on you coming with us (one student)
™ I insist you to come with us (one student)

Example (90) has presented two non subjunctive alternatives:

™ It is impossible for a man to know everything (nine students)

™ It is impossible that a man knows everything (five students)
27
Only one student uses the subjunctive form. As we can see, most students used the form it
is impossible for a man to know everything. None of the students have used the putative
should (as it appears in Quirk et al., 1985)

The example in (91) also presents a vast range of translations.

Ungrammatical translations:
™ I wish him to come back soon (one student)
™ I wish he comes back soon (five students

Expected (subjunctive) translation:

™ I wish he come back soon (four students)

Grammatical but not subjunctive translation:

™ I wish he had come back soon (one student)

We can see that only four students have translated the sentence correctly (I wish he come
back soon). We can assume that the majority of students do not know which tense the verb
wish requires.

As for (92) we have the following translations:

™ It is necessary that every effect has a cause (seven students)
™ It is necessary that all effects have a cause (two students)
™ Every effect must have a cause (two students)
™ It is necessary for every effect to have a cause (two students)
™ It is necessary that every effect have a cause (one student)

We can see that only one student has translated the sentence correctly (It is necessary that
every effect havea cause). Two students have used the most common translation (It is
necessary for every effect to have a cause). Again, none of the students has used the
putative should. This sentence shows that students do not how to use the sequence it is
necessary + -that clause.

28
4.1 Conclusions about the questionnaire

We can see that students do no have a clear perception about the existence of the
subjunctive in English. It is curious that the less problematic examples are those in which
the subjunctive clause in Spanish does not correspond with a subjunctive clause in English
(for example the imperative use of the Spanish subjunctive, which correspond to a regular
imperative clause in English).

The most problematic cases are the conditional clauses and the sequence
verb/noun/adjective + that clause. We need to indicate that these translations do not contain
a grammatical variant of the subjunctive, but are in most cases completely ungrammatical
sentences.

We can also observe that the putative should has not been used in any cases, probably
because the students do not know how to use it properly.

In my opinion, teachers of EFL should pay more attention to the subjunctive clauses, and
explain in detail how the Spanish subjunctive should be translated. I think that grammar
courses of the UAM degrees should describe how modality and mood are developed in
English, and explain the different ways in which a subjunctive clause can be expressed,
taking into account the different geographical and stylistic variations that actually exist in
English, otherwise or students will continue producing mistranslations.

29
5. Final conclusions

In this paper, I have written about one of the most difficult aspects of translating Spanish
into English: the subjunctive mood. Although this mood is present in many clauses in
Spanish, it is rarely used in English.

In order to know the correct uses of the subjunctive mood in both languages, I have
provided different proposals that can help EFL students to understand how the subjunctive
mood is realised in these languages.

Firstly, a range of points of view has been presented regarding the subjunctive mood in
English: those of authors that consider that the subjunctive mood does not exist in English,
those of authors that consider that the subjunctive mood is still present in this language, and
finally I have provided some cases in which authors do not have a clear opinion on whether
they are cases of subjunctive or not.

Secondly, I have provided some analyses of the subjunctive mood in Spanish, starting from
the most traditional grammar, which only considered syntactic analysis in the study of the
mood. I have also provided more modern views, from the RAE and from authors that
consider semantics and pragmatics in the analysis of the mood.

Finally, I have presented a study carried out by 15 EFL students, which translated twelve
Spanish clauses containing the subjunctive mood into English. This study has demonstrated
that most of EFL students do not know how to translate Spanish subjunctive clauses into
English correctly. In some cases, they provided correct translations, but not subjunctive
clauses; however, in many sentences they provided ungrammatical sentences.

In my opinion, EFL teaching should consider this issue as an important topic on the
syllabus, and EFL teachers should emphasize how the notion of mood is realised in both
languages, and give their students learning tools that can help them to translate subjunctive
clauses correctly. Furthermore, teachers need to take into account the different geographical
and stylistic variations of the subjunctive mood in English and show their students correct
and grammatical variants for these clauses, underlining their common mistakes.

30
6. Bibliography

Bello, A. 1988. Gramática de la lengua castellana destinada al uso de los americanos.

Paracuellos del Jarama: Arco Libros

Cillóniz, A. 2013. Más usos del Subjuntivo. Curso de gramática intensiva. Curso a distancia
de Lengua Castellana y literatura: http://roble.pntic.mec.es/acid0002/
Date accessed 03/05/2013

DiTullio, A. 2005. Manual de gramática del español. Buenos Aires: Waldhuter Editores

Kaixin, Z. 1996. “A modest view on the subjunctive mood”. English Studies 77, no. 1: 92-
96

Pamies, A and Vales, M. 2010. El subjuntivo español: significado y usos. Granada:

Educatori

Plotnik, A. 2007. “Holy subjunctive!: Back-to-school advice on this airy (if scary) mood”
[titulo sin cursiva] Writer, no 120

Quereda Rodríguez-Navarro, L.1990. Algunas consideraciones teóricas sobre el subjuntivo

inglés. Revista española de lingüística aplicada 6: 83-110.

Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., and Svartvik, J., 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar
of English language Harlow: Longman

Real Acdemia Española, 2000. Esbozo de una nueva gramática. Madrid: Editorial Espasa
Calpe

Side, P and Wellman, G. 2002. Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced and
Proficiency, Harlow: Longman,

Swan, M. 2005. Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press

31
7. Appendix 1: Questionnaire
NAME ……………………………… ESTUDIES: LLMM/EEII
SURNAME…………………………. YEAR: 3/4
LEVEL OF ENGLISH: A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C1

The following sentences show different uses of the subjunctive mood in Spanish. Please provide the most
accurate translation into English

1. Si fuera millonario, tendría un piso en Miami

……………………………………………………………..

2. Insisto en que vengas con nosotros

……………………………………………………………..

3. Siento que los estudiantes no hayan trabajado bastante

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4. Me alegro de que te guste

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5. Es imposible que un hombre conozca todo

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6. Si ella hubiese tenido tiempo, te habría llamado

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7. No me diga usted eso

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8. ¡Que te lo pases bien!

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9. Deseo que (él/ella) vuelva pronto

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10. Vengo a la universidad para que me enseñen

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11. Es necesario que todo efecto tenga una causa

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12. Te veré cuando acabes la reunión

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