The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) (22 page)
Authors: Julie Gutin
QUESTION?
Why do these verbs have irregular stems?
In most irregular verbs, the resulting stem is shorter than the infinitive, making it easier to pronounce. For example, instead of
poneré,
the conjugation is shortened to
pondré
(I will put); instead of
decirás,
the correct form is
dirás
(you would say).
Future Actions in the Present
Now that we’ve got the conjugation basics down, let’s move on to the verb tenses. First up is the future tense. But you don’t necessarily need to use the grammatical future tense (simple future) to express actions that will take place in the future. Let’s review your options.
Present Tense
As you’ve learned in Chapter 7, you can actually use the present tense to talk about actions that will happen in the immediate future. You might not have noticed, but we do the same in English:
Regresamos a la escuela el lunes.
We go back to school on Monday.
Plans for the Future
The expression “going to” isn’t exactly future tense, but it does deal with actions one plans to do in the future. In Spanish, an equivalent expression is
ir a
+ infinitive:
Voy a decirle lo que pienso.
I will tell her what I think. (I am going to tell her what I think.)
Simple Future
The simple future tense,
el futuro,
is used to express actions that will take place in the future. To review the future tense conjugations, here are the conjugations of regular verbs
hablar
(to speak),
vender
(to sell), and
vivir
(to live), as well as an irregular ver,
decir
(to say). A few examples of the future tense in action follow.
| hablaré | hablaremos |
| hablarás | hablaréis |
| hablará | hablarán |
| venderé | venderemos |
| venderás | venderéis |
| venderá | venderán |
| viviré | viviremos |
| vivirás | viviréis |
| vivirá | vivirán |
| diré | diremos |
| dirás | diréis |
| dirá | dirán |
¿Cuándo acabarás con los ejercicios?
When will you be done with the exercises?
Tendremos que terminar todo antes de cenar.
We will have to finish everything before dinnertime.
It’s Anyone’s Guess
Paradoxically, the simple future tense may be used to for guessing or conjecture about actions in the present tense. Compare the following:
¿Dónde está tu hermana? Está en casa. Estará en casa.
Where is your sister? She is home. She’s probably home.
The second of the two answers doesn’t mean “she will be home”; in this case, the future tense makes the statement less certain.
ESSENTIAL
You’ll be able to tell whether a verb conjugated in the future tense refers to an uncertain present action or to an action in the future as long as you pay attention to the context.
It’s Potential
The conditional tense,
el potencial simple,
is conjugated the same as the future tense, except for the different endings. Take a look at our four sample verbs,
hablar
(to speak),
vender
(to sell),
vivir
(to live), and
decir
(to say):
| hablaría | hablaríamos |
| hablarías | hablaríais |
| hablaría | hablarían |
| vendería | venderíamos |
| venderías | venderíais |
| vendería | venderían |
| viviría | viviríamos |
| vivirías | viviríais |
| viviría | vivirían |
| diría | diríamos |
| dirías | diríais |
| diría | dirían |
The conditional is used to express the Spanish equivalent of “would + verb” (except in the sense of something that “used to be” done). It’s a tense of potentialities, of something that would happen on the condition of something else taking place:
¿Qué harían?
What would you do?
Quisiera un helado.
I would like an ice cream.
Conditional tense is also used to express guessing or conjecture, except that it takes place in the past. Compare the following:
¿Dónde estuvo tu hermana? Estuvo en casa. Estaría en casa.
Where was your sister? She was at home. She was probably at home.
QUESTION?
What is a subordinate clause?
A clause is a part of a sentence, often separated from other parts by a conjunction like “and” or “or,” or by punctuation like a semicolon. Whereas a main clause can stand on its own as a complete sentence, a subordinate clause depends on the main clause for meaning. In if/then sentences, the “if” clause is the subordinate clause.
Future and Conditional Clauses
Conditional tense is often used in sentences with subordinate clauses. (To a lesser degree, this is also true of future tense.) Subordinate clauses in the conditional are always paired off with the past-tense main clause. Future-tense subordinate clauses go with a present-tense main clause. Here is one common example:
Yo sabía lo que harían.
I knew what they would do.
Yo sé lo que harán.
I know what they will do.
If, Then
Future and conditional are also used in “if . . . then” clauses. When the “if” clause is in the present tense, the “then” clause has a future-tense verb:
Si consigo trabajo, compraré un coche nuevo.
If I get a job, I will buy a new car.
The conditional version of this is a little trickier—you’ll need to use the imperfect subjunctive (presented in Appendix A) in the “if” clause:
Si fuera rico, compraría un coche nuevo.
If I were rich, I would buy a new car.
Practice Makes Perfect
Conjugate the following verbs (in parentheses) in the future tense:
1.
El armario no _________________(caber) aquí.
2.
Nosotros _________________(saber) lo que pasó cuando
encontremos a María.
3.
_________________(haber) tiempo mañana.
4.
Yo _________________(tener) la respuesta el próximo día.
5.
_________________(ponerse) tu nuevo traje, ¿verdad?
Conjugate the following verbs (in parentheses) in the conditional tense:
1.
Yo no lo _________________(decir) si no fuera la verdad.
2.
Si pudiera, ella _________________(venir) hoy.
3.
Esto no _________________(valer) la pena.
4.
¿Ustedes _________________(querer) empezar la lectura ya?
5.
Nosotros _________________(hacer) todo si tuviéramos
el tiempo.
Translate the following sentences into English:
1.
Todos irán a la fiesta.
_________________________________________
2.
Yo vendré al restaurante a las siete.
_________________________________________
3.
Yo lo haría contigo.
_________________________________________
4.
Nosotros visitaríamos a nuestros abuelos el jueves.
_________________________________________
To check your answers, refer to the answer key in Appendix D.
C
HAPTER
13
In the Mood—
Subjunctive and
Imperative
SO FAR, YOU’VE BEEN REVIEWING verb tenses in the indicative mood—the mood that indicates what is, was, or will be. But there are two other grammatical moods in English as well as in Spanish: subjunctive and imperative. Subjunctive mood is reserved for making statements where the action is potential or uncertain. Imperative mood is the mood of command.
The Subjunctive Mood
A lot of people who speak English as their native language don’t realize that English grammar includes the subjunctive mood, so when they start learning Spanish, they have a difficult time understanding what this mood is for and how it should be used. But we do occasionally use the subjunctive—it’s just that in English, subjunctive mood is on the decline and rarely used.
Take a look at the following example:
If Janet were sorry, she would have said so.
The correct past tense conjugation of “to be” in third person singular should be “was,” and yet the verb used here is “were.” Why? The statement “Janet was sorry” isn’t technically correct— the speaker does not actually know whether Janet was in fact sorry. This is why the statement is presented in the subjunctive mood—to show grammatically that it isn’t certain. Here’s another example:
Janet’s parents demand that she clean her room.
Again, why isn’t the verb here “cleans”? The reason is that the verb is actually in the subjunctive mood. Janet’s parents demand that she do something, but it’s uncertain whether she’ll actually do it.
As you can see, the subjunctive mood may come in present tense (“she clean”) or in past tense (“she were”). This is also true in Spanish.
FACT