¿Qué es el Subjuntivo?

Welcome to the amazing world of El Subjuntivo!

If you are here is because you have a good basis in Spanish and you are ready to get to the next level, congratulations!

Although most students panic when they heard about Subjuntivo, it is actually a lot easier than it sounds!

Ok, but... What is exactly Subjuntivo?

El Subjuntivo isn't really a tense, it's more like a mood we use in certain situations. Actually, Subjuntivo has its own present and past tenses! 

We use Subjuntivo in many contexts, but the main one is basically when we talk about  situations that aren't real yet or that are hypothetical.

For example, in Spanish if I want to wish you a good day I say "Deseo que tengas un buen día", where Tengas is the Subjunctive mode of Tener. 

I use Subjuntivo because I am wishing you a good day, but that doesn't mean that you will actually have it. I don't know how your day is going to be, that is why I cannot use Present or Future or any other tense or mood.

The same happens when I am looking for or I want something that I am not sure it exists or I haven't seen/met it before. "Quiero una profesora de español que hable inglés", where Hable is the Subjunctive mode of Hablar. I want a teacher that speaks English but, althoug there are probably many out there, I don't know her yet.

There are some other reasons why we use Subjuntivo, of course. But they are all more or less connected to this idea of unknown or hypothetical situations.

Now, let's go step by step and... enjoy the ride!