📖LearnModule 15 · Lesson 22 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2 mastery — the capstoneUnit 5 · La gramática de la precisión
El subjuntivo, por última vez
Module 15 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C2 mastery — the capstone), lesson 22 of 30: The second thing is over-use. On this page: 10 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
el abuso del subjuntivo
over-use of the subjunctive
ehl ah-BOO-soh dehl soob-hoon-TEE-boh
nombrar el desencadenante
to name the trigger
nohm-BRAR ehl deh-sehn-kah-deh-NAHN-teh
en dos palabras
in two words
ehn dohs pah-LAH-brahs
el verbo de opinión
the verb of thinking
ehl BEHR-boh deh oh-pee-NYOHN
añadido por error
wrongly added
ah-nyah-DEE-doh pohr eh-RROHR
faltante
missing
fahl-TAHN-teh
la verificación rápida
the quick check
lah beh-ree-fee-kah-SYOHN RRAH-pee-dah
el hecho de que
the fact that
ehl EH-choh deh keh
probablemente
probably
proh-bah-bleh-MEHN-teh
no creo que él crea eso
I do not think he believes that
noh KREH-oh keh ehl KREH-ah EH-soh
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 thing is over-use. At C2 the error is almost never a missing subjunctive; it is one added after creo que, after aunque with a fact, or after a past cuando — and one missed after el hecho de que, which takes it more often than not.
Y también · And also
The check: for every subjunctive you have written, name the trigger. If you cannot name it in two words, the indicative was probably right.
Ojo · Watch out
The C2 error is the subjunctive ADDED: creo que viene, aunque ES caro (a fact), cuando llegó. And el hecho de que usually takes it even for a fact: el hecho de que sea tarde. For every subjunctive you write, name the trigger in two words or take it out.
creer, presente de subjuntivo — the table
yo crea · tú creas · él/ella/usted crea · nosotros creamos · ustedes crean · ellos/ellas crean
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el abuso del subjuntivo.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out creer, 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.