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In another of my articles I discussed the best ways to learn Spanish verb endings and how to conjugate different Spanish verbs. I believe it is really important to understand the context of each Spanish verb tense so once you conjugate the verb you are using it in the correct way. The subjunctive is slightly different however because the Spanish subjunctive has around 40 common triggers which you will probably ever actually use - this means that if you can learn these you will have a good knowledge of Spanish subjunctive phrases and won't have to keep coming back to the complex rules involving doubt, expression etc. There are of course more than those in this list - however I think if you learn the list of Spanish subjunctive triggers below you have a very good idea of when to use the Spanish present subjunctive.
Subjunctive phrases using the construct "es... que"
No es cierto que - it is not certain that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
No es verdad que - it is not true that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
Es probable / improbable que - It is probable / improbable that
Es posible que - It is possible that
Es necesario / preciso / menester que - It is necessary that
Es ridículo que - It is ridiculous that
Es una lástima que - its a pity that
Es bueno / malo que - it is good / bad that
Es dudoso que - it is doubtful that
Es aconsejable que - it is advisable that
Es preferible que - it is preferible that
Es fácil / difícil que - it is easy /hard that
Es fantástico que - it is fantastic que
Es increíble que - it is incredible that
Es incierto que - it is uncertain that
Es mejor / peor que - it is better / worse that
Es raro que - it is rare that
Es terrible que - it is terrible that
Verbs triggering the Spanish subjunctive when followed by "que"
Aconsejar que - to advise that
Querer que - to want that
Preferir que - to prefer that
Esperar que - to hope that
Alegrarse de que - to be happy that
Gustar que - to like that
Estar contento de que - to be happy that
Estar en contra de que - to be against that
Hace falta que - it is necessary that
Importar(le) que - to be important that
Insistir en que - to insist that
Conviene que - it is advisable that
Dar miedo que - to be scared that
Dudar que - to doubt that
Mandar que - to order that
Negar que - to deny that
Molestar(le) que - to hate that
Parecer(le) bien mal / bien que - to seem good / bad that
Pedir(le) que - to ask someone that
No creer / pensar que - to not think that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
No parecer que - to not seem that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
No estar seguro que - no to be sure that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
No estar de acuerdo de que - to not agree that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
No estar convencido de que - to not be convinced that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
No suponer que - to not suppose that (note: only subjunctive if negative)
Ojala / desear que - to wish that
Perdonar que - to ask forgiveness
Prohibir que - to forbid that
Puede ser que - it could be that
Recomendar que - to recommend that
Rogar que - to beg / plead
Sentir que - to regret that
Sugerir que - to suggest that
Tener miedo de que / temer que - to be afraid / fear that
Vale la pena - is is worthhile that
Other subjunctive phrases
En cuanto - as son as
En caso de que - in case...
A menos que - Unless that
Antes de que - before that
Después de que - after that
Con tal de que - so that
Cuando - when
Hasta que - until
Más vale que - it is better that
Mientras que - while
Para que - in order that
Sin que - without that
Tan pronto como - as soon as
One characteristic evident of these verbs is the use of "que" to trigger the subjunctive - if you watch out for this and consider the rules you should have no problem. I won't go into the details of the imperfect subjunctive but I will say this is often triggered by if (si) phrases.
If you do struggle actually conjugating different verbs in different tenses there are resources to help available at http://www.topspanishtips.weebly.com. Thanks for reading and I hope this helps.
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