Studying Spanish: My Head Hurts

Jim explains:

In the Spanish language, there is a final hurdle you have to clear before you can speak well: the subjunctive. It’s a special conjugation you use for verbs when you’re talking about something indefinite, subjective, possible, or theoretical. Subjunctive has largely died out of the English language, but still appears occasionally (and some of you might not even think these sound funny):

Correct: “I wish John were here to see this”

Incorrect: “I wish John was here to see this”

Correct: “If it were not for my teacher, I wouldn’t be able to speak Spanish.”

Incorrect: “If it was not for my teacher, I wouldn’t be able to speak Spanish.”

You don’t use it much in “survival Spanish,” when asking for things like a hotel room with HOT water, or a cup of milk for your coffee. But if you’re going to plead with the mayor about possibly financing a new well for the farmers, subjuctive is all over the place. Therefore, I have to learn it to help with my job, as well as satisfy my perfectionist leanings. After a year of getting confident with the rest of Spanish, it’s finally time. This is where Spanish Week comes in.