MOODS AND MORE SIMPLE FORM VERB TENSES

Depending on your point of view, English has only two or three simple form tenses. By simple we mean: no other words are required to form them. Thus, strictly speaking only the present tense and the past tense are truly considered simple within English, as even the future tense requires the auxiliary modal verb “will”.

So, with the exception of the present tense and the past tense, in English all other tenses are constructed by using auxiliary verbs or phrases.

Spanish too, uses auxiliary verbs and phrases to construct different compound tenses, very much like English. We saw our first example of this last time, where we learnt how to use the auxiliary verb haber (to have) to create the perfect tense.

However, before we look further at more examples of compound tenses that are made using auxiliary verbs, we are going to learn more of the simple tenses that exist within the Spanish language.

Remember: A simple tense is one that doesn’t require other words to form them.

In contrast to English, the Spanish language has many more simple form tenses. These go beyond just expressing periods in time. Indeed, we have already seen two Spanish simple form past tenses in the shape of the preterite tense and the imperfect tense. But today we will learn about moods and how these translate into more simple form tenses.

Moods
Mood is a grammatical concept that distinguishes verb tenses beyond just periods in time.

In the Spanish language there are three moods: indicative, imperative and subjunctive.

The indicative mood is the one we are most familiar with as English speakers. It is used to express objective fact and indicate reality.

The imperative mood is used when we are issuing commands or orders, and when used in the negative, to forbid or prohibit. For instance: “¡Ven aquí!” (Come here!) or “¡No corras!” (Do not run!)

The subjunctive mood is used to convey the idea of something or to express a feeling towards an action. This includes concepts that are hypothetical or contrary to fact.

As English speakers, we are most used to speaking in the indicative mood. That is not to say, the imperative and subjunctive moods do not exist in English. They do, but they go largely unnoticed, as they tend not change the form of the verbs.

Examples of the subjunctive mood in English include starting a sentence using phrases like “It is important that….” or “If I were you…” In these examples we can see that, what will follow is the idea of something, rather than objective fact. However what will follow is unlikely to change form much, if at all, from the regular indicative form. Thus we often don’t realise we are speaking in this mood as there is little or no new vocabulary to learn.

Spanish behaves somewhat differently when we want to express different moods, as we have a whole set of new simple form tenses that differentiate between both mood and periods in time.

There are too many simple form Spanish tenses to cover in detail in one go. Therefore today, we will introduce ourselves to just a few, and begin to grow accustomed to speaking in a different mood.

Imperative affirmative tense

The imperative mood describes situations where commands or orders are issued. There are two tenses within this mood. One that describes the affirmative commands, and the other describing commands in the negative when we want to prohibit or forbid.

Below are the regular verb conjugations for hablar, comer and vivir in the imperative affirmative tense. As usual, we have highlighted the word endings. Providing the verb is regular, these endings will work with any respective –ar, -er and –ir verb.

Because it is considered illogical to command or order oneself, there is no form in the imperative tense for the first person singular. Thus it is left blank.

hablar (to speak) | imperative affirmative tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-	hablemos
2nd Person	habla	hablad
3rd Person	hable	hablen

comer (to eat) | imperative affirmative tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-	comamos
2nd Person	come	comed
3rd Person	coma	coman

vivir (to live) | imperative affirmative tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-	vivamos
2nd Person	vive	vivid
3rd Person	viva	vivan

Let’s see some uses of the imperative affirmative tense in some basic sentence constructions, so we can start to understand when it is appropriate to use this form.

Note: It is common for pronouns to be appended to the end of imperatives in the affirmative. Also notice that this may lead to verbs gaining accented vowels to preserve their natural word stress.

Spanish	Meaning
¡Ven aquí!	Come here!
¡Cómetelo!	Eat it!
¡Háblame!	Speak to me!
Vive tu vida y sé feliz	Live your life and be happy

Imperative negative tense
The imperative negative tense is used when we are forbidding or prohibiting something. As with the affirmative, there is no conjugation for the first person singular form as it is considered illogical to command oneself.

For the very observant: you will notice that this tense conjugates exactly the same as the present subjunctive tense, with the exception of there being no logical first person singular form. This is a nice tip to help us remember these forms.

hablar (to speak) | imperative negative tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-	hablemos
2nd Person	hables	habléis
3rd Person	hable	hablen

comer (to eat) | imperative negative tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-	comamos
2nd Person	comas	comáis
3rd Person	coma	coman

vivir (to live) | imperative negative tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-	vivamos
2nd Person	vivas	viváis
3rd Person	viva	vivan

Now let’s see some uses of the imperative negative tense in some basic sentence constructions, so we can start to understand when it is appropriate to use this form.

Spanish	Meaning
¡No corras!	Do not run!
Nunca los toques	Never touch them
¡No te lo comas!	Don't eat it!
¡No me hables!	Do not speak to me!
¡Nunca me hables así!	Never speak to me like that!

Present subjunctive tense

As mentioned already, the subjunctive mood is used when we are conveying ideas or feelings, rather than objective fact or reality. Therefore the present subjunctive tense is used when we describing such ideas in the present time frame, rather than the past or the future for instance.

Before we dig deeper into this though, let’s take a look at how we can form this tense using the patterns found within the six form verb paradigm.

Below are the regular verb conjugations for hablar, comer and vivir in the present subjunctive tense. As usual, we have highlighted the word endings. Providing the verb is regular, these endings will work with any respective –ar, -er and –ir verb.

hablar (to speak) | present subjunctive tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	hable	hablemos
2nd Person	hables	habléis
3rd Person	hable	hablen

comer (to eat) | present subjunctive tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	coma	comamos
2nd Person	comas	comáis
3rd Person	coma	coman

vivir (to live) | present subjunctive tense

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	viva	vivamos
2nd Person	vivas	viváis
3rd Person	viva	vivan

So when should we use the subjunctive mood?

There are a number of reasons or triggers for using the subjunctive mood. These triggers might include conveying: wishes or hopes, feelings or emotions, doubts, opinion with impersonal expressions, suggestions or requests and even expressing a vague future.

Let’s see some uses of the present subjunctive tense in some basic sentence constructions, so we can start to understand when it is appropriate to use this form. We've underlined the verbs that have taken the present subjunctive form for clarity.

Spanish	Meaning	Trigger
Quiero que hables español	I want you to speak Spanish	wishing
Me gusta que hables español	I like that you speak Spanish	feeling or emotion
Solo te pido que comas tu cena	I'm only asking you to eat your dinner	requesting
Sugiero que comamos estos	I suggest that we eat these	suggesting
Es agradable que vivas aquí	It is nice that you live here	opinion with an impersonal expression
No creo que hable español	I don't think that he speaks Spanish	doubt
Seré feliz cuando vivan aquí	I will be happy when they live here	expressing a vague future

Hopefully by seeing a few different examples of how the subjunctive mood is triggered, we begin to get a real flavour of it.

More often than not, the construction of a sentence will take the form of: trigger + “que” + subjunctive form...

In particular, opinions expressed as impersonal expressions will trigger the subjunctive mood. These are often constructed as: “Es” + opinion + “que”...

Examples of such expressions include:
“Es bueno que…” (It’s good that…)
“Es malo que…” (It’s bad that…)
“Es mejor que…” (It’s better that…)
“Es probable que…” (It’s likely that…)
“Es raro que…” (It’s strange that…) and so on…

Conclusion | En conclusión
Some people get on with the subjunctive mood almost immediately, whilst others may take a while to learn when it is appropriate. Certainly learning the seven trigger types we’ve seen today should help keep it at the forefront of your thinking.

As English speakers, we are very used to only considering the present, the past and the future as tenses. But as we’ve discovered today, we can also think in moods as well as periods in time. Once we get used to phrasing ideas, personal opinions and even feelings as subjunctive conjugations; then one can argue, we’ve very much opened the door to being able to form emotional, hypothetical and sophisticated statements correctly.

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