Ultimate Guide to the Spanish Subjunctive. Ser (To Be)

Learning the Spanish subjunctive up to an intermediate level is a lot easier than many courses and teachers would lead you to believe.

The trick is to learn the subjunctive in parallel with the indicative tenses, making comparisons between the two and finding patterns that will help you remember all the forms easily.

That’s what we’re going to do here today in this Ultimate Guide to the Spanish Subjunctive.

We’re going to concentrate on the subjunctive forms of the irregular Spanish verb ser, the most essential of all verbs.

First, we’re going to see this verb in the subjunctive tenses: present, present perfect, imperfect and pluperfect. Then, we’re going to compare the Spanish subjunctive and indicative forms.

Spanish subjunctive. Present tense

Spanish subjunctive. Present perfect tense

Spanish subjunctive. Imperfect tense

Spanish subjunctive. Pluperfect tense

Spanish subjunctive vs. indicative. Present

Let’s now compare the present subjunctive with the present indicative, and let’s compare them both with the present subjunctive of the regular ‘er’ verb vender (to sell):

Here are some notes that will help you remember the present subjunctive, and indeed the present indicative, of the irregular Spanish verb ser more easily:

• In the present subjunctive, the first and third persons are identical: sea.
• In the present indicative, the first and third persons are different: soy and es.
• In the present subjunctive, all six forms of the verb ser start with the letters ‘se’.
• In the present indicative, the second and third persons start with the letter ‘e’. The first, fourth, fifth and sixth persons start with an ‘s’.
• In the present indicative, the first, fourth, fifth and sixth persons have an ‘o’ after the initial ‘s’.
• In the present subjunctive, all six forms have the letters ‘se’ followed by the regular ‘er’ verb endings for this tense.
• In the present indicative, the first and third person endings don’t show any similarities with the regular ‘er’ verb present subjunctive endings.
• The other four persons, in the present indicative, show some similarities with the regular verb endings: ‘eres’ ends in ‘s’, like ‘vendas’; ‘somos’ ends in ‘mos’, like ‘vendamos’; ‘sois’ ends in ‘is’, like ‘vendáis’, and ‘son’ ends in ‘n’, like ‘vendan’.

Spanish subjunctive vs. indicative. Present perfect

Now let’s compare the present prefect subjunctive with the present prefect indicative, and let’s compare them both with the present prefect subjunctive of the regular ‘er’ verb vender (to sell):

To help you remember the present perfect subjunctive, and indeed the present perfect indicative, of the irregular Spanish verb ser, notice that:

• In the present perfect subjunctive, the first and third persons are identical: haya sido.
• In the present perfect indicative, the first and third persons are different: he sido and has sido.
• In the present perfect subjunctive, the auxiliary verb (haber, to have) is in the present subjunctive.
• In the present perfect indicative, the auxiliary verb (haber, to have) is in the present indicative.
• All six forms of both the present perfect subjunctive and indicative have the past participle sido.
• The past participle of the verb ser (sido) ends in ‘ido’, just like the past participle of the regular verb vender (vendido).

Spanish subjunctive vs. indicative. Imperfect

Here we’re going to compare the imperfect subjunctive with the preterite indicative, and we’re also going to go through the imperfect subjunctive of the regular ‘er’ verb vender (to sell):

Mastering the imperfect subjunctive of the irregular Spanish verb ser is easy if you remember that:

• In the imperfect subjunctive, the first and third persons are identical: fuera / fuese.
• In the preterite indicative, the first and third persons are different: fui and fue.
• In both the imperfect subjunctive and indicative, all six forms start with the letters ‘fu’.
• In the imperfect subjunctive, the letters ‘fu’ are followed by the regular verb endings for this tense minus the letter ‘i’.
• In the preterite indicative, the first, second and third person endings don’t show similarities with the regular ‘er’ verb imperfect subjunctive endings.
• In the preterite indicative, the fourth, fifth and sixth person endings show some similarities with the regular verb endings: ‘fuimos’ ends in ‘mos’, like ‘vendiéramos / vendiésemos’; ‘fuisteis’ ends in ‘is’, like ‘vendierais / vendieseis’; and ‘fueron’ ends in ‘n’, like ‘vendieran / vendiesen’.

Spanish subjunctive vs. indicative. Pluperfect

Finally, we’re going to compare the pluperfect subjunctive with the pluperfect indicative, and we’re also going to see the pluperfect subjunctive of the regular ‘er’ verb vender (to sell):

To help you master the pluperfect subjunctive, and indeed the pluperfect indicative, of the irregular Spanish verb ser, here are some interesting notes:

• In the pluperfect subjunctive, the first and third persons are identical: hubiéramos / hubiésemos sido.
• In the pluperfect indicative, the first and third persons are also identical: había sido.
• All six forms of both the pluperfect subjunctive and indicative have the past participle sido.
• In the pluperfect subjunctive, the auxiliary verb (haber, to have) is in the imperfect subjunctive.
• In the pluperfect indicative, the auxiliary verb (haber, to have) is in the imperfect indicative.
• The past participles of both ser and vender end in ‘ido’: sido and vendido.

Spanish subjunctive. Another learning tip

Whenever you study a new irregular verb, make sure you can see the similarities between different tenses and persons. Compare them also to the regular verb patterns. That way you’ll remember all the forms much more easily.

If you want to master the Spanish subjunctive in no time, have a look at this highly recommended Spanish verb course.

For more tips on how to learn the Spanish subjunctive fast and efficiently, see my study guide How to Learn Spanish.

It’s your turn

What do you find most difficult about the Spanish subjunctive? Let me know. Leave a comment below!