Copy of Week 14 Day 3: Irregular verbs in present subjunctive part 1
Today's goal is:
- To learn about the irregular verbs in the present subjunctive.
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 1
José, do you have plans for the weekend?
No, why? What do you have in mind?
You know Roberto, right? He and I were thinking about doing something over the weekend, but we couldn’t think of anything.
I don’t know. Do you want to go to the beach?
Roberto went to the beach last week. I don’t think he would want to go again.
How about going to the movies? Do you think he would like watching a horror movie?
No, he doesn’t like horror. He might get scared.
Hey, there’s a new exhibition in the museum this Saturday. Do you think he might be interested?
That’s a great idea! He loves art.
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 2
Verbos irregulares en subjuntivo – irregular verbs in the subjunctive
In the previous lesson, we saw regular verbs in the subjunctive. Yo hable, tú comas, and él viva are examples of these verbs. In this lesson, we will be discussing irregular verbs, which as you may remember are the type of verbs that don’t follow these patterns of conjugation. They can have slight changes or change entirely.
Let’s take a look at some examples of irregular verbs in the subjunctive.
- Yo no creo que Luis quiera comer pescado. - (I don’t think Luis will want to eat fish.)
- Nosotras esperamos que tú puedas venir. - (We hope you are able to come.)
- Es importante que ustedes no mientan. - (It is important that you don’t lie.)
- Quizás yo juegue baloncesto toda la tarde. - (I might play basket all afternoon.)
Remember that the verbs we will conjugate in the subjunctive are in the subordinate clause. They always go second, usually after a conjunction such as que and cuando.
Now, depending on their conjugation, we can divide them into different categories:
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 3
(–e changes to –ie) Querer | Header |
|---|---|
yo quiera | nosotros, nosotras queramos |
tú quieras | ellos, ellas, ustedes quieran |
él, ella, usted quiera | Cell |
Other verbs like querer | Header |
|---|---|
Arrepentirse | Fregar |
Calentar | Gobernar |
Cerrar | Pensar |
Defender | Perder |
Empezar | Regar |
Entender | Cell |
Speaking Practice Exercise 1
NOTE:
1. Nosotros and nosotras don’t change in this category.
2. Empezar substitutes the “z” for a “c”, as in Yo empiece and Tú empieces.
Here are some examples:
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 4
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 5
(-e changes to -ie / -i) Sentir | Header |
|---|---|
yo sienta | nosotros, nosotras sintamos |
tú sientas | ellos, ellas, ustedes sientan |
él, ella, usted sienta | Cell |
NOTE:
1. Nosotros and nosotras change to -i rather than -ie.
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 6
Other verbs like sentir | Header |
|---|---|
Consentir | Preferir |
Divertir(se) | Mentir |
Herir | Cell |
Here are some examples:
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 7
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 8
(-e changes to -i) Pedir | Header |
|---|---|
yo pida | nosotros, nosotras pidamos |
tú pidas | ellos, ellas, ustedes pidan |
él, ella, usted pida | Cell |
Other verbs like pedir | Header |
|---|---|
Conseguir | Medir |
Corregir | Reír(se) |
Elegir | Seguir |
Freír | Servir |
Impedir | Sonreír |
Here are some examples:
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 9
- Pedro quiere que yo te pida un favor. - (Pedro wants me to ask you a favor.)
- Yo dudo que la sala mida más de 10 metros. - (I doubt the living room is more than 10 meters.)
- Todos esperamos que tú elijas lo correcto. - (We hope you make the right choice.)
NOTE:
1. Corregir and elegir substitute their “g” for a “j”, as in Yo corrija and tú elijas.
2. Conseguir and seguir drop the “u”, so we are left with Yo consiga and tú sigas.
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 10
(-e changes to -ue) Poder | Header |
|---|---|
tú puedas | nosotros, nosotras podamos |
tú puedas | ellos, ellas, ustedes puedan |
él, ella, usted pueda | Cell |
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 11
Other verbs like poder | Header |
|---|---|
Contar | Oler |
Costar | Recordar |
Dormir(se) | Soler |
Encontrar | Sonar |
Llover | Soñar |
Morder | Volar |
Morir(se) | Volver |
Mover(se) | Cell |
Speaking Practice Exercise 2
NOTE:
1. Nosotros and nosotras don’t change in this category. However, dormir and morir do change. We will say Nosotros/nosotras durmamos and nosotros/nosotras muramos.
2. Just like other conjugations of oler, the verb gains an “h” in the subjunctive. We will say Yo huela, tú huelas, él huela, etc., but Nosotros/nosotras olamos.
Here are some examples:
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 12
- Probablemente él no pueda ayudarte. - (He probably won’t be able to help you.)
- Tal vez la abuela no recuerde que hoy es mi cumpleaños. - (Maybe grandma doesn’t remember today is my birthday.)
- Espero que no llueva el fin de semana. - (I hope it won’t rain over the weekend.)
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 13
(-u changes to -ue) Jugar | Header |
|---|---|
yo juegue | nosotros, nosotras juguemos |
tú juegues | ellos, ellas, ustedes jueguen |
él, ella, usted juegue | Cell |
NOTE:
1. Jugar is the only common verb in this category. Similarly to other verbs, nosotros and nosotras don’t change.
Here’s an example:
Listen to Week 14 Day 3 Track 14
WEEK 14 DAY 3 REVIEW:
Today we talked about some irregular verbs in the subjunctive. Remember that irregular verbs suffer some or many alterations to their stems and, although we can often put them in categories, the best thing we can do is try to memorize them.