Comparison of Italian and Spanish
The Subjunctive Mood
There is no room here to explain the subjunctive mood in detail,
but it will suffice to say that it is used to express subjectivity
or hypothetical situations. Frequently, but not always, it appears
in a subordinate clause following the word che/que.
There are two simple forms of the subjunctive: present and imperfect.
(There is also a future subjunctive in Spanish, but it is used only
in very restricted contexts, such as legal language.) The two
corresponding compound forms are the perfect subjunctive and
the pluperfect subjunctive.
Present subjunctive:
In Italian, roughly speaking, you put an 'i' into the 'are' verbs
and an 'a' into 'ere' and 'ire' verbs:
| Parlare | Vendere | Partire |
|---|
| 1st pn sg. | parli | venda | parta |
| 2nd pn sg. | parli | venda | parta |
| 3rd pn sg. | parli | venda | parta |
| 1st pn pl. | parliamo | vendiamo | partiamo |
| 2nd pn pl. | parliate | vendiate | partiate |
| 3rd pn pl. | parlino | vendano | partano |
Spanish is similar: you put an 'e' into the 'ar' verbs
and an 'a' into 'er' and 'ir' verbs:
| Hablar | Vender | Partir |
|---|
| 1st pn sg. | hable | venda | parta |
| 2nd pn sg. | hables | vendas | partas |
| 3rd pn sg. | hable | venda | parta |
| 1st pn pl. | hablemos | vendamos | partamos |
| 2nd pn pl. | habléis | vendáis | partáis |
| 3rd pn pl. | hablen | vendan | partan |
Note that, whereas the singular endings are the same in Italian regardless
of person, in Spanish only the first and third person singular endings are
the same.
Example: 'I hope that he comes' is Spero che (lui) venga
in Italian and Espero que (él) venga in Spanish.
Imperfect subjunctive:
This is an easy mood/tense to learn in Italian:
| Parlare | Vendere | Partire |
|---|
| 1st pn sg. | parlassi | vendessi | partissi |
| 2nd pn sg. | parlassi | vendessi | partissi |
| 3rd pn sg. | parlasse | vendesse | partisse |
| 1st pn pl. | parlassimo | vendessimo | partissimo |
| 2nd pn pl. | parlaste | vendeste | partiste |
| 3rd pn pl. | parlassero | vendessero | partissero |
In Spanish, strangely, there are two alternative versions of the
imperfect subjunctive. The first one is very similar to the Italian:
| Hablar | Vender | Partir |
|---|
| 1st pn sg. | hablase | vendiese | partiese |
| 2nd pn sg. | hablases | vendieses | partieses |
| 3rd pn sg. | hablase | vendiese | partiese |
| 1st pn pl. | hablásimos | vendiésimos |
partiésimos |
| 2nd pn pl. | hablaseis | vendieseis | partieseis |
| 3rd pn pl. | hablasen | vendiesen | partiesen |
But the second form is rather different:
| Hablar | Vender | Partir |
|---|
| 1st pn sg. | hablara | vendiera | partiera |
| 2nd pn sg. | hablaras | vendieras | partieras |
| 3rd pn sg. | hablara | vendiera | partiera |
| 1st pn pl. | habláramos | vendiéramos |
partiéramos |
| 2nd pn pl. | hablarais | vendierais | partierais |
| 3rd pn pl. | hablaran | vendieran | partieran |
Unfortunately, the second form, the one which is unlike Italian, is more common
in spoken Spanish.
Example: 'I hoped he was coming' is Speravo che (lui) venisse
in Italian and Esperaba que (él) viniera/viniese in Spanish.
Perfect subjunctive:
This is just formed by using the present subjunctive of the auxiliary
followed by the past participle. For example, 'I doubt that he has come'
would be Dubito che (lui) sia venuto and
Dudo que (él) haya venido.
Pluperfect subjunctive:
Similarly, this is formed by using the imperfect subjunctive of the auxiliary
followed by the past participle. For example, 'I didn't think he had been
to Italy' would be Non credevo che fosse andato in Italia
and No creía que hubiese/hubiera ido a Italia.
More comments on the subjunctive
- There are cases where the subjunctive is used in Italian but not
in Spanish. Compare Credo che (lui) sia inglese with
Creo que (él) es inglés. Also compare
La persona più simpatica che (io) abbia mai conosciuto
with La persona más simpática que he conocido.
- On the other hand, there are some cases where the subjunctive is used
in Spanish but not in Italian. Compare Quando ho del tempo libero, vengo
with Cuando tenga tiempo libre, vendré.
- The imperfect subjunctive is often used in 'if... then'
clauses. For example, 'if I were able, I would write to you' is
Se (io) potessi, ti scriverei and
Si (yo) pudiese/pudiera, te escribiría.
- The same applies to the pluperfect subjunctive. 'If I had been able,
I would have written to you' becomes
Se (io) avessi potuto, ti avrei scritto and
Si (yo) hubiese/hubiera podido, te habría escrito.
Created October 2006.
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