The idea of subjunctive mood appears in the field of grammar , where a mood is a category expressed in the verb that indicates values such as syntactic dependence on certain types of subordination or the attitude of the individual regarding what is communicated.
The subjunctive mood is one that marks what is said in the predicate as uncertain , unverifiable , non-specific or unconfirmed . The hypotheses and what is desired , therefore, are situated in this grammatical mode.
Let's see an example . The phrase “He who insults the emperor will be sentenced to prison” is developed in the subjunctive mood because it refers to a hypothetical case. The expression indicates that if anyone ever verbally attacks the emperor, they will receive a certain punishment.
“You would have been a great striker” , meanwhile, is another phrase in the subjunctive mood. In this case, one subject tells another that, according to his belief or opinion, he could have stood out in the field of soccer playing as an attacker. The statement is improbable: there is no way to know if, in fact, the person in question would have shone in the sport, since he never dedicated himself to the activity professionally.
“It is essential that we save before moving”, “Those who damage the club facilities will be expelled”, “I wish we could leave earlier”, “If I had known that, I would not have acted the same way.” y “They need to explain what happened” son otras expressions en modo subjuntivo.
With respect to personal desires, the subjunctive mood is the most suitable for expressing them. Let's look at an example below: "I would be very excited if you called me Pedro." In this case, the sender is not certain that Pedro will call him, and that is why he expresses it as a possible situation, but not as an absolute truth, as it would be in the sentence "Peter will call me this afternoon."
In everyday speech, the use of the subjunctive mood is not very frequent, but rather the indicative mood is usually prioritized, generally to the detriment of meaning . Below are two sentences that serve to illustrate this phenomenon: "When my shift ends, I'll stop by your house," "When my shift ends, I'll stop by your house."
At first glance, we could say that both sentences have the same meaning, and that the only difference is the formality of the language . However, if we analyze them strictly, in the first the sender expresses that every time his shift ends, he passes by the interlocutor's house, every day in which this situation arises. Needless to say, that's not what he means.
The second sentence uses the subjunctive mood to express with absolute clarity that only once , the next time , when his turn comes to an end, will he pass by the interlocutor's house. If you wish to repeat the meeting the next day, you should let him know with a new prayer .
The least used tense of the subjunctive mood is without a doubt the future ( amare, amares, amare, amáremos, amareis, amaren ). Generally, we find it in some proverbs and legal texts. However, it can bring certain unique nuances to language, which greatly improve communication when used correctly.
The future subjunctive is the one that expresses the greatest degree of improbability and uncertainty . In the previous example where expulsion is promised for anyone who "damages" the club's facilities, thanks to the use of this time it becomes clear that perhaps no one will damage them, which is not a mandatory situation but a slightly probable one. If we said "he who harms" , we would be denoting the feeling that someone will do it, sooner or later.
It should be noted that the subjunctive mood is used in many languages . Its characteristics and particularities depend on each language.