The Spanish Moods - Part 2  

The Indicative Mood (Modo Indicativo) is that form of the verb that expresses the action in a positive manner, as a fact.

The Conditional Mood (Modo Condicional)[1] affirms like the Indicative Mood in a positive manner, but subject to a condition.

The Imperative Mood is used to command or to beg. This mood has only one tense and one distinct form of person: the second, as:

  • Habla tú: Speak thou.
  • Hablad vosotros: Speak ye or you.

The 1st pers. sing, does not occur and the other persons are taken from the Present Subjunctive.[2]

In the 3rd person (and sometimes even the 1st plural) the pres. subj. may take the place of the Imperative used affirmatively. This becomes apparent by the use of Que, which precedes the Subjunctive and when an object pronoun occurs in the sentence, as:

  • Escríbalo él or Que lo escriba él: Let him write it.

There is no Imperative Mood negative in Spanish.[3]

Footnote 1: English form: (auxiliary) should + verb for 1st persons; (auxiliary) would + verb for 2nd and 3rd persons.
Footnote 2: With only one exception: Ir (to go). 1st pers. pl., Pres. Subj.--Vayamos. 1st pers. pl., Imperative--Vayamos or vamos (more used).
Footnote 3: It is borrowed entirely from the Pres. Subjunctive, as: No hables, no hable, no hablemos, no habléis, no hablen. The difference is of course, only apparent in the 2nd person.
The Subjunctive Mood
This mood offers some difficulty to English students; this arises from the fact that in English this mode of viewing the action of the verb is often rendered by the indicative mood or by the semi-auxiliary verbs "may," "might," "should," "would."
Note: The Spanish rule on the Subjunctive mood must be therefore applied irrespective of the English construction.
GENERAL RULE
The Subjunctive Mood can only be used in dependent clauses, as:
  • Yo quiero que él venga: I wish him to come.
  • Yo quiero que él vaya: I wish him to go.

And then, only when, by reason of what precedes in the Principal Clause, the action of the Subordinate verb is not expressed in a positive manner (i.e., as a fact) but as merely contingent (i.e., only conceived in the mind), as:

  • Yo declare que él vino (or vendría): I say that he came or that he would come.
  • Yo espero que él venga: I hope that he may come.
  • Yo esperaba que él viniese: I hoped that he might, or would come.
SPECIAL RULES

I. A verb in a dependent clause is placed (generally) in the Subjunctive Mood after verbs expressing an action, or emotion of the mind, when the subjects of the principal and of the subordinate verbs are different.

EXAMPLES of principal verbs which govern the following verb in the Subjunctive Mood:

aconsejar        - to advise           conceder - to grant
conseguir        - to obtain           desear   - to desire
esperar          - to hope             impedir  - to hinder
evitar           - to avoid            querer   - to wish
mandar           - to order            temer    - to fear
rogar            - to ask, to beg      sentir   - to regret 
confiar en que   - to trust
alegrarse de que - to be glad that
N.B.--("a") If the 2nd verb should have the same subject, use the Infinitive Mood, as:
  • Deseo que venga: I wish him to come.
  • Deseo venir: I wish to come.

("b") After verbs expressing joy, shame, sorrow, or fear, the Indicative may be used instead of the Subjunctive.

("c") After "mandar" (to order) the subordinate verb is often in the Infinitive instead of the Subjunctive, as:

  • Mándele V. que lo haga: Order him to do it.
  • Mándeselo V. hacer: Order him to do it.





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