Indicative Mood - Real
Subjunctive Mood - Not Real
Language related with verbs
conjugated in the indicative mood
reflect what is really transpiring. Most
of what we do, act upon, experience is related using verb forms in the
indicative mood. In other words: use
indicative mood to tell what is real.
Language related with verbs
conjugated in the subjunctive mood
include any ideas or events as they
transpire in someone's mind, whether
a command form (most of them), or
an idea, or conjectural speculation.
Use subjunctive for imagined.
Second Level of Thinking
Indicative: This is really going on!
Subjunctive: ... in somebody's head!
PRESENT TENSE covers the territory of
what's going on now! I work at Joe's.
I'm eating in a restaurant. We're
going to Spain next summer. He
works hard. Those are all examples of
sentences in the present tense.
Present subjunctive provides
possibilities of what we see others
doing. It has nothing to do with the
reality of what IS, but merely conveys
those possibilities: I want you to
study. (I want something. What is it?
... that you study.) Are you studying?
IMPERFECT TENSE is a past tense. It
tells what was happening, what would
regularly occur, what used to go on. It
provides information that is usually
background for events. It was raining
when the tree fell on the house.
There's an event and a background in
that statement. Which is which?
PRETERITE TENSE is a past tense. It
provides verbs in the form of stating a
past event, an occurrence, ... it
happened! It is the event of the tree
falling onto the house. An accident
that occurred. A deed someone did.
This is what News Reporters are out to
tell you, as they sensationalize some
small doing in Podunk, USA. Mrs.
Smith broke her leg today.
FUTURE TENSE is a glimpse into the
unknown, looking "ahead." It gives
information in a conjectural form,
more than stating what is going to
happen. It may be used for "future
actions" - but generally is not. If you
want to state or ask what somebody
might be thinking of doing, use a verb
Past subjunctive works the same as
the present, only within a past
timeframe. Only one past form is used
(the imperfect), which covers all
events that (someone thinks)
occurred in the past.
There is no future subjunctive. Since
the future tense already relates to
events "unknown" - there is already a
sense of conjecture built into the
tense itself. By its very use, one
knows that something "might" or
"might not" be. Since the future IS
unknown, there's no need to convey
in the future tense! Where do you
think they're going?
that the information is transpiring only
in the speaker's head.
CONDITIONAL TENSE is also a glimpse
into the unknown, looking at
possibilities. It is always "would" do
something, if something else were to
be the circumstances or something
else were to occur. Nothing about the
conditional tense is real, in the sense
that the action is never really going
on. It's based on some condition
that's not known to exist yet. I would
buy a new car if I had the money.
There is no conditional subjunctive. An
"if-clause" already precludes the
conditional tense, which means the
action relies on the presence or
absence of certain conditions, be they
real or imaginary. At any rate, the
"sense" of the conditional carries its
own weight for conveying basically
unfounded information.
Progressive Tenses are compound tenses in that they involve a main verb and
an auxiliary verb. The auxiliary verb for Spanish progressive tenses is ESTAR. It is
this verb that gets changed into the same forms as you learned above - and that
gets stated in conjunction with the present participle (the -ing form) of whatever
verb* it is that you're working with.
Present Progressive
I am eating. She is eating.
Imperfect Progressive
I was eating. She was eating.
Preterite Progressive
I was eating. She was eating.
Future Progressive
I will be eating. She will be eating.
Conditional Progressive
I would be eating. She would be eating.
Present Progressive Subj.
... that I be eating. ... that she be eating.
Past Progressive Subj.
... that I was eating. ... that she were eating.
Perfect Tenses do the same thing as progressive tenses, and use the auxiliary
verb: haber. Haber = the helping verb "to have." In each of the tenses, haber is
conjugated accordingly. The name of the tense = the form of haber.
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
Conditional
Perfect
Present Perfect
Subj.
Past Perfect Subj.
I have eaten.
She has worked.
I had eaten.
She had worked.
I will have eaten.
She will have worked.
I would have eaten.
She would have worked.
... that I have eaten.
... that she have worked.
...had I eaten (were I to have eaten)
... had she worked (were she to have worked)
Perfect Progressive Tenses mix the compound tenses together. You have the
helping verb "have," along with the helping verb "been," - both attached to the
main verb in its -ing form. ESTAR stays in its past participle form (estado), and
the verb HABER, as the helper, gets conjugated in the various tenses you've
been studying.
Present Perfect Progressive
Past Perfect Progressive
Future Perfect Progressive
Conditional Progressive
Present Progressive Subjunctive
Past Progressive Subjunctive
I have been eating.
I had been eating.
I will have been eating.
I would have been eating.
... that I have been eating.
... that I had been eating.