Spanish Phrases which Require the Subjunctive

Phrases which Require the Subjunctive

Students should be aware of these phrases which require the use of a verb in the subjunctive. There aren't a lot of them, but they are used fairly often in normal conversation. Some examples would be:

para que
a menos que
con tal que
sin que

There are others which MAY require the subjunctive, depending on the exact meaning of the sentence. They may also be used with a verb in the indicative, but the meaning will change.

Iremos a la playa aunque hace frío.
Iremos a la playa aunque haga frío.

In the first case, "aunque" would be translated as "even though". In the second case the translation would be "even if". Notice that there is a difference in meaning. When we say, "even though", we are aware that it is in fact cold. When we say, "even if", we don't know what the weather is going to be. There is a question of uncertainty involved.

Other "trigger" which sometimes call for the subjunctive are:

de manera que
de modo que