How do I form the present subjunctive?

To be able to form the present subjunctive, we first need to be comfortable with the indicative present tense conjugations of Spanish verbs.For -ar verbs, such as 'hablar', we have:hablohablashablahablamoshabláishablanFor -er verbs, such as 'comer', the conjugation is:comocomescomecomemoscoméiscomenFor -ir verbs like 'cumplir', the conjugation is:cumplocumplescumplecumplimoscumplíscumplenTo then form the present subjunctive, we need to use the first person singular of the indicative present tense. Then -ar verbs become:hablehableshablehablemoshabléishablen-er and -ir verbs take on the following endings:comacomascomacomamoscomáiscomanANDcumplacumplascumplacumplamoscumpláiscumplanSo, except for the first person singular, -ar verbs take on the endings of -er verbs, while -er and -ir verbs take on the endings of -ar verbs.The endings are also the same for irregular verbs. For these verbs, we still take first person singular conjugation and add the opposite endings:Example 1: 'conocer'conozco --> conozcaconoces --> conozcasconoce --> conozcaconocemos -->conozcamosconocéis --> conozcáisconocen --> conozcanThere are some irregular changes which you will simply have to learn, some of which are the most common verbs used in SpanishExample 2: 'ir'voy --> vayavas --> vayasva --> vayavamos --> vayamosvais -->vayáisvan --> vayanExample 3: 'ser'soy --> seaeres --> seases --> seasomos --> seamossois --> seáisson --> seanExample 4: 'estar'estoy --> estéestás --> estésestá --> estéestamos --> estemosestáis --> estéisestán --> esténExample 5: 'saber'sé --> sepasabes --> sepassabe --> sepasabemos --> sepamossabéis --> sepáissaben --> sepanRadical changing verbs, like in the indicative, do not radically change in the first and second person plural of the subjunctive:Example 1: 'soler'suelo --> suelasueles --> suelassuele --> suelasolemos --> solamossoléis --> soláissuelen --> suelanExample 2: 'cerrar'cierro --> cierrecierras --> cierrescierra --> cierrecerramos --> cerremoscerráis --> cerréiscierran --> cierren

Answered by Shandon W. Spanish tutor

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