When we think about the properties the verbs might have, chances are that the first property that comes to mind is its tense: it refer to actions in the past, present or future. But verbs also have two other grammatical properties that are important to understanding how they are used their mood and their voice.
Mood: A set of verb forms that indicate the attitude of the speaker toward the likelihood of the action occurring or in some other way. Both Spanish and English have three verb moods: indicative, subjunctive and imperative. All verbs (other than infinitives, participles and gerunds when used alone) are in one of those moods.
Both English and Spanish have these three verb moods:
•The indicative mood is the "normal" verb form used in everyday statements. In a sentence such as "I see the dog" (Veo el perro), the verb is in the indicative mood.
•The subjunctive mood is used in many statements that are contrary to fact, are hoped for or are in doubt. This mood is by far more common in Spanish, since it has mostly disappeared in English. An example of the subjunctive in English is the verb in the phrase "if I were rich" (si fuera rico in Spanish), which refers to a contrary-to-fact condition. The subjunctive is also used in a sentence such as "I request that my pseudonym be published" (pido que se publique mi seudónimo), which indicates a type of desire.
•The imperative mood is used to give direct commands. The short sentence "Leave!" (¡Sal tú!).
Let's review each one:
The subjunctive mood: is used not to indicate that something is being asserted but that it is contrary to fact, supposed, doubted, feared or desired. The subjunctive mood barely exists in English, although more so in writing than in speech. In contrast, the subjunctive mood is an essential feature of the Spanish language.
In Spanish, the subjunctive mood is used most commonly in a dependent clause, usually one beginning with que. In some cases, in both English and Spanish, a past-tense form of the subjunctive can be used to state a contrary-to-fact condition after "if" (si in Spanish).
Also Known As: Subjuntivo in Spanish.
Examples:
The underline verbs are in the subjunctive mood:
If I were a man I would be a soccer player.
(Si fuera hombre, sería futbolista.)
I demand that he study.
(Le exigo que estudie).
Imperative mood: The verb mood that is used for making commands and requests.
In Spanish, the imperative mood as strictly understood can be used only in the familiar second person (tú and vosotros). However, the term "imperative" is frequently used for commands given in the formal second person (usted and ustedes) as well as the first-person plural (nosotros and nosotras). In those cases, and well as with negative commands, it is technically the subjunctive mood that is being used.
In English, the imperative mood can be made by using a simple unconjugated form of the verb without any subject attached. For example, the complete sentence "Go!" is in the imperative mood; the subject "you" need not be stated.
In Spanish, the tú form of the imperative usually uses the same conjugation as the third-person singular indicative. Thus a verb such as estudia can, depending on the context, mean either "you study" (as a command) or "he/she studies." When a pronoun is used in the Spanish imperative, it typically follows the verb: estudia tú.
The plural (vosotros) form of the imperative is always formed by changing the final r of the infinitive to a d. Thus estudiad means "study" as a command to multiple listeners. The vosotros imperative is very rare in Latin America; the ustedes form of the subjunctive is used instead.
Note that the imperative mood as strictly understood cannot be used in the negative, i.e., with a no. The negative subjunctive must be used instead.
Also Known As: Modo imperativo in Spanish. In English, the imperative mood is often referred to simply as a command.
Examples:
All but the underline verbs technically are in the subjunctive mood. Note that the pronouns are optional and are included for clarity. habla tú ("speak" as a familiar singular command), no hables tú ("don't speak" as a familiar singular command), hable usted ("you speak" as a formal singular command), hablemos ("let's speak"), hablad ("speak" as a familiar plural command), no habléis ("don't speak" as a familiar plural command), hablen ustedes ("speak" as a formal plural command).
Tense: It almost goes without saying that the tense of a verb has something to do with what time the action described by the verb takes place. So it shouldn't be surprising that the Spanish word for "tense" in the grammatical sense is tiempo — the same as the word for "time."
In the simplest sense, we can think of there being three varieties of tenses: past, present and future. Unfortunately for anyone learning most languages, including English and Spanish, it is seldom that simple. What we call the present tense, for example, can be used in some cases in both languages to talk about the past or the future. And in Spanish, there is a clear distinction between the preterite and imperfect tenses, which are both types of past tenses.
Verb Tenses
• The present tense is the most common of tenses and the one invariably learned first in Spanish classes.
• The future tense is most often used to refer to events that haven't happened yet, but it can also be used for emphatic commands and also to indicate uncertainty about current happenings.
• The past tenses of Spanish are known as the preterite and the imperfect. To oversimplify a bit, the first is usually used to refer to something that happened at a specific point in time, while the later is used to describe events where the time period isn't specific.
• The conditional tense, also known in Spanish as el futuro hipotético, the future hypothetical, is different than the others in that it isn't clearly connected with a particular time period. As its names imply, this tense is used to refer to events that are conditional or hypothetical in nature. This tense should not be confused with the subjunctive mood, a verb form that also can refer to actions that aren't necessarily "real."
• In addition to the simple tenses already listed, it is possible in both Spanish and English to form what are known as the perfect tenses by using a form of the verb haber in Spanish, "to have" in English, with the past participle.
These compound tenses are known as:
- the present perfect or preterite perfect,
- the pluperfect or past perfect,
- the future perfect and
- the conditional perfect.
- the past anterior (literary tense)
Perfect Tense: A type of tense that indicates the completion of action. In English, the perfect tenses are formed by using "to have" followed by the past participle. In Spanish, the perfect tenses are formed by using haber followed by the past participle.
Perfect tenses shared by the two languages are all in the indicative mood: the present perfect or preterite perfect (I have seen, he visto), pluperfect or past perfect (I had seen, había visto), future perfect (I will have seen, habré visto) and conditional perfect (I would have seen, habría visto).
Spanish also has a past anterior perfect tense that can refer to past events (hube visto), but it is seldom used in modern Spanish.
In addition, Spanish has three perfect subjunctive forms, the present perfect (que haya visto), the past perfect (que hubiera visto or que hubiese visto), and the future perfect (que hubiere visto)
Also Known As: Tiempo perfecto in Spanish.
Examples:
Underline verbs indicate use of perfect tenses:
I have not seen the film.
(No he visto la película.)
All the children had left.
(Todos los niños habían salido.)
If they had told me that, I would have studied more.
(Si me lo hubieran dicho, habría estudiado más.)
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