📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 2 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 1 · La lengua literaria
El futuro de subjuntivo — la ley y el refrán
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 2 of 30: There is a tense nobody uses in conversation. 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
adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres
when in Rome, do as the Romans do
ah-DOHN-deh FWEH-rehs, ahs loh keh BYEH-rehs
el que incumpliere
whoever should fail to comply (legal)
ehl keh een-koom-PLYEH-reh
si hubiere
if there should be (legal)
see oo-BYEH-reh
el refrán
the proverb
ehl rreh-FRAHN
el código
the code (of law)
ehl KOH-dee-goh
la cláusula
the clause (in a contract)
lah KLOW-soo-lah
desusado
obsolete
deh-soo-SAH-doh
reemplazar
to replace
rreh-ehm-plah-SAR
exigen que nosotros cumplamos
they demand that we comply
ehk-SEE-hehn keh noh-SOH-trohs koom-PLAH-mohs
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
There is a tense nobody uses in conversation, and you will meet it in two places: the law and the proverb. Adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres (when in Rome). El que incumpliere esta norma será sancionado. Si alguien hubiere de reclamar, deberá hacerlo por escrito.
Y también · And also
Recognize the -re endings (fuere, vieres, hubiere), translate them as an ordinary present subjunctive (el que incumpla), and move on. Producing them today reads as a joke, and in a proverb it IS the proverb.
Ojo · Watch out
fueres, vieres, hubiere: the -re endings mark the futuro de subjuntivo. Read it as the presente de subjuntivo and never write it — except inside a proverb quoted whole.
cumplir, presente de subjuntivo — the table
yo cumpla · tú cumplas · él/ella/usted cumpla · nosotros cumplamos · ustedes cumplan · ellos/ellas cumplan
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with adonde fueres, haz lo que vieres.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out cumplir, 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.