Using the Subjunctive to Express Desire

The subjunctive mood is used to describe situations that have not yet occured or are not objectively real. In this lesson, we are looking at how using a verb to express hope or desire that a second action occurs, automatically triggers the subjunctive form in the second verb.

Study the following:

• We insist that you be* good -- Insistimos en que seas bueno
  I hope you are studying -- Espero que estés estudiando
  She wants you to work hard -- Quiere que trabajes duro

*We'll talk about this unusual English form (which happens to be one of the few uses of the subjunctive in English) a little later in this lesson.

Notice that in the above examples, one individual or group is transferring their hopes, desires, etc. onto another individual or group. Also note that que follows the subjunctive "trigger" word.

Here's a list of words that can "trigger" the subjunctive when used in the above fashion:

• esperar que -- to wish that
  insistir en que -- to insist that
  andar que -- to order that
  preferir que -- to prefer that
  prohibir que -- to prohibit that
  querer que -- to want that
  es aconsejable que -- it's advisable that
  es necesario que -- it's necessary that
  pedir que -- to ask that
  recomendar que -- to recommend that
  rogar (que) -- to plead that
  sugerir que -- to suggest that

It helps to understand that the first verb is expressed in the indicative mood, which affirms a fact or states a reality. The second verb, however, describes an action which -- at the moment of the occurence of the first verb and in the mind of the speaker -- hasn't yet occured or doesn't exist, and so is expressed in the subjunctive mood.


Consider the following subjunctive sentences again and compare them with their indicative counterparts:

• We insist that he be* a good student -- Insistimos en que sea buen estudiante
  We insist that he is a good student -- Insistimos en que es buen estudiante
  
  I hope you are studying everyday -- Espero que estés estudiando todos los días
  I believe that you are studying everyday -- Creo que estás estudiando todos los días
  
  She wants you to work hard -- Quiere que trabajes duro
  She knows you work hard -- Sabe que trabajas duro

*Insist is one of the very few English verbs that still require the use of the subjunctive to express its "desire/command" aspect, a necessary form in order to distinguish it from the same verb's "affirmation" aspect.


Compare the first two sentences:

• We insist that he be a good student (we influence his behaviour in that area by our insistence, i.e., command/desire, without actually stating that we achieve our goal).
  
  We insist that he is a good student (he really is a good student, a statement of fact).

The difference in the meaning of insist is clear in these two sentences, and it is exactly this difference that is expressed by the subjunctive of desire in Spanish.

Now compare the other two sets of sentences above and see if you can distinguish the sense of "not real/not known to be a fact" that each subjunctive verb gives.


When talking about the subjunctive of desire in the past, it helps to remember the rule stated above:

The indicative mood affirms a fact or states a reality. The subjunctive mood describes an action which --  at the moment of the occurence of the first verb and in the mind of the speaker -- hasn't yet occured or doesn't exist.

Let's look at our three model sentences, expressed in the past tense:

• We insisted that he were good -- Insistíamos en que fuera bueno
  I hoped you were studying -- Esperaba que estuvieras estudiando
  She wanted you to work hard -- Quería que trabajaras duro
  

As you can see, the second verb describes an action in the past that, at the moment of the occurence of the first verb and in the mind of the speaker, had not yet happened. The fact that we are talking in this moment about events in the past does not imply that everything we talk about now actually happened or was real at the moment of the occurence of the first verb.

Although ruled by "trigger" words, it's important to remember that, above all, the subjunctive mood expresses the speaker's subjective view of a given event.