Subjunctive Overview and Formation

Table of contents

1. Subjunctive Mood - General Overview
2. Present Subjunctive
   1. Pres. Act. Subj.
   2. Pres. Pass. Subj.
   3. Present Subjunctive of esse
3. Imperfect Subjunctive
4. Perfect Active Subjunctive
5. Pluperfect Active Subjunctive
6. Perfect and Pluperfect Passive Subjunctive

---

Subjunctive Mood - General Overview

The subjunctive is the verbal mood of possibility, doubt, hypothetical or ideal situations, or unreal actions. It can be used either in main clauses or dependent clauses, and we’ll encounter various uses of the subjunctive in both contexts. It is important to identify in what kind of clause a subjunctive verb is being used, because those contexts will often strictly circumscribe how the subjunctive should be translated.

The subjunctive exists only in four tenses: present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect. The future and future perfect do not have subjunctive forms because they express actual situations or real facts.

This unit will focus primarily on the formation of the subjunctive mood in its four tenses. We’ll deal with the various uses of the subjunctive (and how to translate them) once we have the forms of the subjunctive under control.

---

Present Subjunctive

To form the subjunctive in the present tense, we begin as usual by finding the present stem (by going to the 2nd principal part and chopping off the final -re). Then, depending on the conjugation to which the verb belongs, the vowel at the end of the present stem will undergo a shift:

• 1st conjugation: ā > ē
• 2nd conjugation: ē > eā
• 3rd conjugation: e > ā
• 3rd -iō conjugation: e > iā
• 4th conjugation: ī > iā

This pattern can be memorized using the mnemonic: shE wEArs A dIAmond tIAra.

Then, we attach the appropriate personal endings to reflect person, number, and voice: -m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt for the active; -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur for the passive.

Here is a full paradigm chart of the present active subjunctive and then the present passive subjunctive, with a column for each verb conjugation (the paradigm verbs, in order, being amāre, vidēre, regere, facere, and audīre):

Pres. Act. Subj.

Pres. Pass. Subj.

Present Subjunctive of esse

The present subjunctive of esse, “to be”, is irregular:

---

Imperfect Subjunctive

To form the imperfect subjunctive, we will take the entire 2nd principal part and then simply add our active or passive personal endings directly onto it, with no differences among the various verb conjugations. The final -e lengthens to ē except before -m, -t, -nt, -r, and -ntur.

Take a look at the following examples of the imperfect subjunctive in the 3rd singular active and passive (respectively):

• amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus > amāret, amārētur
• moneō, monēre, monuī, monitus > monēret, monērētur
• regō, regere, rexī, rectus > regeret, regerētur
• capiō, capere, cēpī, captus > caperet, caperētur
• audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītus > audīret, audīrētur

And here is a full paradigm of the sample verb amāre in the imperfect active and passive subjunctive:

---

Perfect Active Subjunctive

To form the perfect subjunctive, we will use the perfect active stem, which can be found by going to the 3rd principal part and chopping off the final -ī. Then, we will attach the following endings:

These endings are composed of the syllable cluster -erī- with the active personal endings.

Take a look at the following transformations from perfect indicative to perfect subjunctive:

• amāvit > amāverit
• monuērunt > monuerint
• rexēre > rexerint
• cēpit > cēperit
• audīvērunt > audīverint

And here’s an example paradigm for the perfect active subjunctive of canere, “to sing” (3rd pp: cecinī):

---

Pluperfect Active Subjunctive

To form the pluperfect subjunctive, we will use the perfect active stem again, which can be found by going to the 3rd principal part and chopping off the final -ī. Then, we will attach the following endings:

These endings are composed of the syllable cluster -issē- with the active personal endings.

Take a look at the following transformations from pluperfect indicative to pluperfect subjunctive:

• amāverat > amāvisset
• monuerant > monuissent
• rexerant > rexissent
• cēperat > cēpisset
• audīverant > audīvissent

And here’s an example paradigm for the pluperfect active subjunctive of canere, “to sing” (3rd pp: cecinī):

---

Perfect and Pluperfect Passive Subjunctive

The perfect and pluperfect passive subjunctive, like their indicative counterparts, are compound tenses. We will observe the same rules for the formation of the perfect and pluperfect passive (i.e., use a form of the 4th principal part that matches the subject in gender, case, and number plus the present tense of sum, esse for perfect and the imperfect tense of sum, esse for pluperfect), but rather than using the indicative forms of sum, esse, we will use the subjunctive forms.

Take a look at the following transformations from the perfect passive indicative to the perfect passive subjunctive:

• amātus est > amātus sit
• monitae sunt > monitae sint
• rectum est > rectum sit
• captī sunt > captī sint
• audīta sunt > audīta sint

Now, take a look at the following transformations from the pluperfect passive indicative to the pluperfect passive subjunctive:

• amātus erat > amātus esset
• monitae erant > monitae essent
• rectum erat > rectum esset
• captī erant > captī essent
• audīta erant > audīta essent

(Note that the imperfect subjunctive of esse is formed completely regularly, by taking the second principal part esse and adding the personal endings to it.)

---