28.04.26; Level 3+; Subjunctive [29] tenses; spot the difference; the sounds of the subjunctive present, imperfect and pluperfect

Image #1: You have now seen all the active forms of the subjunctive: present, perfect, imperfect and pluperfect. There are also passive forms, but we will look at those separately. Always remember with the subjunctive: keep it slow and steady!

Becoming familiar with the uses takes time – and practice, especially reading in context. However, recognising the subjunctive is fairly straightforward because there are distinct ‘markers’ that tell you what tense is involved.

Images #2 and #3: Here, we will look at how to recognise the present, imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive. We’ll look at the perfect subjunctive separately.

Think of the sounds of the subjunctives:

[i] Pluperfect subjunctives hISS …

amāvISSem

habuissēs

vīxisset

audīvisset

[ii] Imperfect subjunctives gRowl …

amāRēmus

habērētis

vīverent

audīrent

[iii] … and wE present subjunctives fEAr A lIAr

amEm

habEĀs

vīvAt

audIAt

Are there a few exceptions? Yes, there are, and those were shown when the individual tenses were discussed in earlier posts - but there are so few that it’s worth remembering:

“Pluperfect subjunctives hISS, imperfect subjunctives gRowl, and wE present subjunctives fEAr A lIAr.” Try saying that on the bus going home from work, and see what happens!

Image #4: all the verbs are subjunctives. Complete the table by [1] ticking the tense, and indicating [2] the person and [3] the number: