PL Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6268 days ago 33 posts - 34 votes Speaks: Spanish
| Message 1 of 10 09 November 2008 at 7:32pm | IP Logged |
I'm looking to get a firm grasp on the Spanish subjunctive. Can anyone give me a recommendation on Assimil
Using Spanish vs. Michael Thomas Advanced Spanish as it pertains to the subjunctive. Do these go beyond the
present subjunctive? I have a pretty good handle on the basic uses, but I find myself avoiding in conversation.
Thanks
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TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5929 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian
| Message 2 of 10 09 November 2008 at 9:19pm | IP Logged |
I think the MT approach is excellent, the French one too. The present and past subjunctive are the ones you'll need 90% of the time. Also look at the subjunctive of haber, which is useful (I don't think MT covers it).
The way MT presents it is the most simplistic yet effective explanation of it I've ever heard and enabled me to use it right from the start. As he says, it's just a sound change depending on which verb 'track' you're on, there's not that much more to it - once that is grasped you can get on with when to apply it without worrying about the form.
There are very few exceptions and even those are consistent within the group. Forget the often pedalled idea of, 'oh no the big bad subjunctive'. It really breaks the surface of Spanish and opens your eyes to how doubt is expressed.
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Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6017 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh
| Message 3 of 10 10 November 2008 at 9:57am | IP Logged |
Yeah, MT seconded. He covers the present and past subjunctive pretty thoroughly. I have very few problems with it now, anyway.
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PL Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6268 days ago 33 posts - 34 votes Speaks: Spanish
| Message 4 of 10 10 November 2008 at 7:21pm | IP Logged |
Excellent. Thanks for the advice.
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Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6900 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map
| Message 5 of 10 11 November 2008 at 3:44am | IP Logged |
I could just add to that, that you get your general bearings about the use of the subjunctive from courses and books initially, and then spend a lifetime getting comfortable with all the finer points of the issue.
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Alkeides Senior Member Bhutan Joined 6154 days ago 636 posts - 644 votes
| Message 6 of 10 11 November 2008 at 8:37pm | IP Logged |
Hencke wrote:
I could just add to that, that you get your general bearings about the use of the subjunctive from courses and books initially, and then spend a lifetime getting comfortable with all the finer points of the issue. |
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I don't know much Spanish, but if it's anything similar to the Latin coniunvtivus, I agree with Hencke; repeated exposure to the subjunctive in different contexts will soon make it apparent to you.
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Liface Triglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Lif Joined 5864 days ago 150 posts - 237 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Dutch, French
| Message 7 of 10 12 November 2008 at 4:12am | IP Logged |
Honestly, I learned the subjunctive pretty well just from this website:
http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/subj1.htm
Go through all of the lessons and you'll get it.
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furrykef Senior Member United States furrykef.com/ Joined 6478 days ago 681 posts - 862 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Latin, Italian
| Message 8 of 10 12 November 2008 at 5:50pm | IP Logged |
TheBiscuit wrote:
I think the MT approach is excellent, the French one too. The present and past subjunctive are the ones you'll need 90% of the time. |
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Only 90%? There aren't any other subjunctives other than the future, and that one is used much, much less than 10% of the time unless you're a lawyer or something. In fact, you can easily get away with not knowing it at all.
- Kef
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