5 Spanish expressions with subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is probably one of the most problematic elements of the Spanish grammar. Not only it has 4 versions, but also the rules that determine if we should use the subjunctive or the indicative mood are not always 100% clear.

Very often it is clearly impossible to resume in one sentence how to use Spanish subjunctive mood, what we can do however, is to analyze step by step its different rules. Today we’ll start with expressions that require the use of subjunctive - all this without exceptions, which means that as soon as you see one of the 5 expressions, you can be sure that Spanish subjunctive mood will follow.

Spanish subjunctive and friendly expressions

I like saying that in the Spanish language there are some friendly expressions that you can treat as your allies. Why? Basically because thanks to these words that introduce subjunctive and only subjunctive in Spanish, you save a lot of time. Indeed, instead of deciding whether to use the indicative or the subjunctive mood, the only thing you have to think about is which form to choose in order to build a correct sentence.

Expressions with Spanish subjunctive

Even though the expressions below belong to different categories, what they do have in common is the fact that they always require the use of the subjunctive mood. Of course, depending on the context, you might have to choose between subjuntivo presente, pretérito perfecto, imperfecto or pluscuamperfecto, but we’ll talk about it next time. Right now we will skip directly to:

What you´ll learn today

• 5 expressions in Spanish that require the use of subjuntivo.
• 5 sentences to show you how to apply the subjunctive mood with them.
• A short explanation.

Ojalá

In English you can say “let’s hope” or “hopefully”, hence you can deduce that when you say “ojalá” in Spanish, you want really really hard that something becomes true. No wonder then that the use of the subjunctive is mandatory here.

¡Ojalá ganemos el concurso!

Let’s hope we’ll win the contest!

Antes de que

Which means “before” and suggests that somehow we want to change the course of the events or to avoid something in the future. Subjunctive is the only option here as well.

¡Escondámoslo antes de que venga Joan!

Let’s hide it before Joan comes!

A condición de que

In English “on condition that”. And a condition can be fulfilled or not which places it in the area of the influence of the subjunctive mood.

Vale, iré contigo, pero sólo a condición de que me digas a qué hora acaba este evento.

Ok, I’ll go with you, but only on condition that you tell me what time does this event end.

Para que / A fin de que

Both of them express a purpose and their English equivalent is “in order to” or “so that” . “A fin de que” is more polite and formal than “para que”. Of course, these expressions require the subjunctive mood only if there are two different subjects in one sentence.

Necesito verte para que me expliques el funcionamiento de este programa.

I need to see you, so that you can explain to me how does this program work.

Como si

And in English “as if”. I’ve put it at the end, because there is a slight difference between this one and the rest. Indeed, after the “como si” expression you can use only the the imperfecto or pluscuamperfecto variety of the subjuntivo. Beware! Other versions are strictly prohibited!

Baila como si no hubiera un mañana.

Dance like there’s no tomorrow.

Do you know more expressions that are used only with the subjunctive mood in Spanish? Do not hesitate to share them in the comment section!