Posters with a few working brain cells may recall that, the last time the DC message boards went down, I seized many hostages at
www.robkamphausen.com and proceeded to, ah, have my way with them until the boards came back up. As it happened, the boards were down for a week, and I just about killed myself. This time, therefore, I'm going to try something less physically demanding. Sooooo, LET'S LEARN SPANISH!
Lesson One: The Subjunctive Mood
The Subjunctive Mood is scarcely ever employed in modern English. It is true that we say: "if I were you" instead of: "if I was you," but apart from that it is not often that the subjunctive is used. In Spanish its use, even among comparatively uneducated people, is far more widespread.
The primary use of the subjunctive is to express desire, doubt or some emotion. It may be employed in principle clauses. But it is more frequently to be found in dependent clauses: i.e., in those which cannot stand alone but are dependent on some other word, such as a verb or a conjunction, before they can make complete sense.
The tense of the indicative to be used in any given sentence is generally clear enough from the meaning. But it is hopeless to try to give exact meanings to the tenses of the subjunctive. "May" or "might" are sometimes indications of the subjunctive. But a sentence containing either of these words will quite possibly be in the indicative, while, on the other hand,a clause requiring the subjunctive may very well not contain either of them. We must therefore approach the matter from another point of view, ignoring the English of the sentence, and seeing what words and what circumstances call for the employment of the subjunctive in Spanish.
It will be as well to recall that the present subjunctive of ar verbs is formed by adding to the stem the following endings: -e, (-es), -e, -emos, (-eis), -en. In er and ir verbs by adding: -a, (-as), -a, -amos, (-ais), -an. The characteristic vowel in te present indiciative of ar verbs is a, in er and ir verbs e. In the present subjunctive these vowels change places.
Next Lesson: Angelita Rips Her Bodice
