📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 13 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 3 · El subjuntivo, el mapa completo
¿Subjuntivo o infinitivo?
Module 10 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 13 of 30: The second test is arithmetic: count the people. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
antes de salir
before leaving
AHN-tehs deh sah-LEER
sin decir nada
without saying anything
seen deh-SEER NAH-dah
contar los sujetos
to count the subjects
kohn-TAR lohs soo-HEH-tohs
la aritmética
the arithmetic
lah ah-reet-MEH-tee-kah
idéntico
identical (m)
ee-DEHN-tee-koh
diferente
different
dee-feh-REHN-teh
eliminar un error
to remove a mistake
eh-lee-mee-NAR oon eh-RROHR
la mitad menos
half as many
lah mee-TAHD MEH-nohs
quiero que salgas
I want you to leave
KYEH-roh keh SAHL-gahs
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
The second test is arithmetic: count the people. One person means the infinitive; two means que plus the subjunctive. Quiero salir. Quiero que salgas.
Y también · And also
The same applies to the conjunctions: antes de salir (one person) against antes de que salgas (two). Getting this right removes half the subjunctives most learners write, and all the wrong ones. Sin decir nada — without saying anything — is the infinitive after sin, one person.
Ojo · Watch out
One person: infinitive. Two people: que + subjunctive. The rule holds for conjunctions too: antes de salir (one) against antes de que salgas (two). Never antes de que salir.
salir, presente de subjuntivo — the table
yo salga · tú salgas · él/ella/usted salga · nosotros salgamos · ustedes salgan · ellos/ellas salgan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with antes de salir.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out salir, presente de subjuntivo in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.