Notes on the present subjunctive and verbs of influence (SPAN 2312-Fall 2018 ) PDF

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THE PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE AND VERBS OF INFLUENCE Now that we have covered the endings of the present subjunctive, we can focus on one of its many uses: influencing someone else’s behavior. When someone (let’s call it Subject1) exerts influence or will on someone else (Subject2), the verb that agrees with the second subject must be in the subjunctive. In other words, Subject1 + Verb of Influence + que + Subject2 + SUBJUNCTIVE

For instance, take a look at the following sentences: 1. Juan quiere que nosotros viajemos a España. ‘Juan wants us to travel to Spain’ 2. El Presidente ordena que yo sea leal. ‘The President orders me to be loyal’ 3. Yo sugiero que tú digas la verdad ‘I suggest that you tell the truth’ 4. El profesor recomienda que ellos compren este libro. ‘The professor recommends that they buy this book’ Notice that each of these sentences contains a verb of influence, that is, a verb that we use to try to change someone else’s behavior: querer ‘to want,’ ordenar ‘to order,’ sugerir ‘to suggest,’ and recomendar ‘to recommend.’ Also, notice how the subject accompanying this verb of influence is different from the subject accompanying the second verb. For instance, in the first example, Subject1 = Juan, whereas Subject2 = nosotros. When you have this context, the second verb must be in the subjunctive (as the highlighted forms above show). If there is a verb of influence, but no change of subjects (that is, if Subject1 = Subject2), then the infinitive (NOT the subjunctive) is normally used. In this case, the word sequence in Spanish resembles that of English. Subject1 + Verb of Influence + INFINITIVE For example, Yo quiero ir a España ‘I want to go to Spain’ In this sentence, I am not trying to convince anyone else to go to Spain. That’s why the second verb is the infinitive ir, and that’s why I mentioned above that the subjunctive “may” follow a verb of influence. Only when Subject1 is different from Subject2 can the subjunctive be used. 1

To sum up, if you are telling / asking / ordering / persuading / etc. other people to engage in some kind of activity, that activity must be expressed with a conjugated form of the present subjunctive. If you wish / want / etc. to do the activity yourself without involving anyone else, use the infinitive.

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