Learning To Live Life En El Subjuntivo

My first encounter with el subjuntivo — that’s subjunctive, that crazy verb mood that causes Spanish students everywhere to tense up — was curious, confusing and somewhat embarrassing.

Because we’ve all been there. I think it’s safe to say that most Latinos who grow up in the U.S. are better at using English than Spanish. And, if your upbringing was anything like mine, your understanding of crazy things like the difference between the present and past subjunctive was lost somewhere between learning how to make beans and trying to figure out, exactly, how many cousins you have.

So there I was, 18 and working at Ross Dress For Less, when my co-workers corrected my Spanish, telling me it’s “haga” not “hago.” My mind was blown, as I’d never really encountered subjunctive in real life. Later on, when I was in college and really applying myself to gain a better understanding of this particular quirk in the language, it hit me suddenly and wonderfully.

The subjunctive, I’ve found, opens doors to entirely new ways of seeing the world and thinking about your life.

When I was studying in Mexico, I met a young woman who — I swear — used the subjunctive in every single sentence; I had never met such a person. But I listened to the way she described the world and it became apparent to me that, one can use the subjunctive mood as a way to think about life differently, to expand the borders on your life, to have one foot in reality and the other in the way you’d like reality to be. Well, at least she could.

I’ve found that the subjunctive really comes in handy when I’m planning something or talking about my feelings or my future — then nothing is for certain! It’s all just possible, and thus “irreality,” and so you can dream about whatever you’d like. Of course, I would never claim that I had the subjunctive down 100%, because language is one of those things you always strive to conquer.

Nonetheless, discovering the subjunctive was an exciting time in my life — not only for the dreams part, but also because I learned a nicer way to tell people what to do. As time goes on, I hope to get better at it, in the meantime I’m grateful to have stolen a peak at the subjunctive dimension of life.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD