The present subjunctive in Spanish is one of the many verb tenses in the Spanish subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood is one of three moods in Spanish (the indicative, the imperative, and the subjunctive) that indicates the presence of doubt, emotion, or subjectivity, in contrast to the indicative, which states facts. The focus of today's lesson will be the conjugation of the Spanish present subjunctive tense. 

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An Example of the Present Subjunctive in Spanish: 

Before going on to conjugation, let's see an example of the present subjunctive in Spanish, which typically appears after the present indicative in dependent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction such as que (that). As a simple example, if you say, "I hope [that] you practice at home" with ustedes (plural you) in Spanish, the correct manner of doing so would be

espero que practiquen en su casa

I hope you guys practice at home

Caption 60, Lecciones de guitarra Con Cristhian - Part 3

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rather than espero que practican en su casa because the verb tense changes from the indicative (practican) to the subjunctive (practiquen) due to the "hope" regarding whether the action will take place. In another lesson, we will explore the many scenarios in which the Spanish subjunctive mood comes into play. 

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Subjunctive in Spanish

The first step in conjugating most verbs in the present subjunctive is to recall the present indicative yo (I) form of the verb. We then remove the -o in order to get the stem and add the corresponding endings for -ar and -er/-ir verbs, which we can think of as the "opposite" of the endings for each verb class in the present indicative. 

Let's use the aforementioned formula to get the stems for three of the most common regular verbs:

Now, let's look at the present subjunctive endings for -ar vs. -er/-ir verbs: 

Armed with this information, we can easily conjugate these verbs in the present subjunctive in Spanish. You will note that in the present subjunctive, the yo form and the él/ella/usted form are exactly the same.

Most of the time, we use the word nada in Spanish as an indefinite pronoun that can be translated as either "nothing" or "anything." In this lesson, we will examine how to use this word to mean one vs. the other. Let's take a look.

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Using Nada  with Adjectives

Before we jump into the "nothing" vs. "anything" uses of nada, it's important to state the following: When an adjective appears next to nada, the adjective must be masculine. Let's look at a few examples:

No es nada malo, es algo natural.

It's nothing bad, it's something natural.

Caption 12, La Cocaleros - Personas y políticas

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Tenemos que devolver a la madre y esperamos

We have to return it to the mother and hope

que la madre no encuentre nada raro en su cachorro.

that the mother doesn't find anything strange with her cub.

Captions 90-91, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo

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Que haya jóvenes que realicen pequeños hurtos no es nada nuevo.

That there are young people who commit petty thefts is nothing new.

Caption 16, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas

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Nada as "Anything"

If nada comes after a verb, it must be expressed in a negative form with either no or some other negative element such as jamás/nunca (never) or nadie (nobody). Although such "double negatives" are incorrect in English (for example, you can't say "I don't have nothing"), in such cases in Spanish, nada becomes the positive "anything" in the English translation. Let's look at a couple of examples:

Juan no ha comido nada desde que llegó al aeropuerto.

Juan hasn't eaten anything since he arrived at the airport.

Caption 41, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap 3: Perfecto compuesto II

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No, no como nada frito.

No, I don't eat anything fried.

Caption 40, Cata y Cleer - En el restaurante

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In the example above, you can see how the adjective frito is masculine (just to check whether you remember our aforementioned rule!). 

Me encanta también cocinar.

I also love to cook.

Nunca me has hecho nada, ni un plato.

You have never made anything for me, not even one dish.

Captions 74-75, Cleer - Hobbies

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Nada as "Nothing"

On the other hand, if nada goes before a verb, the verb does not need to be accompanied by a negative element. In this case, nada functions like the word "nothing" in English. Let's take a look:

Mi primo vive en una casucha en donde nada funciona bien.

My cousin lives in a "casucha" [awful house] where nothing works well.

Caption 54, Carlos explica - Diminutivos y Aumentativos Cap 2: Definiciones generales

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Nada me detendrá

Nothing will stop me

Caption 32, Ednita Nazario - Después De Ti

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Nada as a noun

Finally, keep in mind that when nada is used as a noun meaning "the void" or "nothingness," it is a feminine noun:

Era el frío de la nada

It was the cold of nothingness

Caption 41, Acercándonos a la Literatura - José Asunción Silva - "Nocturno III"

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Notice how in this case, the word nada is preceded by the definite female article "la."

That's all for this lesson. We invite you to keep these rules in mind, and don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments. 

The verb decir (to say, to tell) is very common in Spanish. Let’s learn how to use it.
 
One of the most commonly used forms of this verb is digo (I say):
 

Pero si yo digo: Yo voy en el autobús y usted va en el coche,

But if I say: I am going in the bus and you [formal] are going on the car,

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The verb decir is frequently followed by the word que (that):
 

Yo digo que la fruta es para comerla no para hacerse una fotografía con ella.

I say that fruit is to eat it not to take a picture with it.

Caption 48, Los Reporteros - Sembrar, comer, tirar - Part 2

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Also remember that in Spanish you don't always need to use personal pronouns before verbs, since these are conjugated differently for each person:
 

Pues entonces rejuvenece coger castañas. -Digo que sí.

Well then, it rejuvenates to pick chestnuts. -I say so.

Captions 18-19, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 4

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Another common instance of the verb decir is dice (he/she/it says). The reason why dice is very useful is because it helps us talk about what we read or hear. For example:
 
Hay un letrero en la puerta que dice que ya está cerrado | There's a sign on the door sayingit's closed already.
El mensaje dice que viene una gran tormenta | The message says a big storm is coming.
Mayra dice que te tienes que ir | Mayra says you have to go.
 
We mentioned before that it’s very common to omit personal pronouns before verbs in Spanish. But you will find that the verb decir is frequently preceded by reflexive, direct, or indirect object pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, le, les, la, las, lo) depending on what is being said and to whom. For example:
 

¿Quién nos dice que la vida nos dará el tiempo necesario?

Who says [to us] life will give us the necessary time?

Caption 11, Julieta Venegas - El Presente

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Supongamos que un amigo me dice lo siguiente:

Let's imagine that a friend tells me the following:

Caption 44, Carlos explica - Diminutivos y Aumentativos Cap 2: Definiciones generales

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It's also important to remember how pronouns are combined when using this verb. You must place reflexive or indirect object pronouns first, and then direct object pronouns right next to the verb. In the following example te replaces an indirect object (you) and lo (it) replaces a direct object:
 

Te lo digo de corazón.

I tell [it to] you from the heart.

Caption 25, Documental de Alejandro Fernandez - Viento A Favor

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The past tense dijo (he/she/it said) is another useful form of this verb. For example, you can use it to talk about what someone told you in the past. The expression me lo dijo (he/she/it told it to me) is worth learning:
 

¡Es verdad, pana, mi hermano me lo dijo!

It's true, pal, my brother told it to me!

Caption 45, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso - Part 3

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No le digas (don’t tell him/her) and no me digas (don’t tell me) are  also useful:
 

¡No le digas, Candelario!

Don't tell him, Candelario!

Caption 14, Guillermina y Candelario - La Isla de las Serpientes

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Another fixed expression is se dice (it's said, one says), which is equivalent to dice la gente(people say):
 

Bueno y se dice que la mujer tiene un sexto sentido

Well, and one says that a woman has a sixth sense

Caption 16, Club de las ideas - Intuición - Part 1

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The same phrase, se dice, can also be used to talk about the correct pronunciation of a word, or its meaning in a different language. For example:
 
Buenos días se dice "bonjour" en Francés | "Bonjour" is good morning in French.
No se dice "soy contento", se dice "estoy contento" | You don't say "soy contento," you say "estoy contento" (I'm happy).
 
You can find many more examples of the verb decir in our catalog. You just need to type the form of the verb that you want to practice in the search tool to start learning real Spanish from real speakers in real situations!