Mood is a grammatical concept that organizes verb tenses. It refers to the different ways in which the action of a verb can be expressed. The three moods in Spanish are the indicative mood, the subjunctive mood and the imperative mood. Aside from the imperative mood, which is only conjugated in the present tense, all tenses can be conjugated differently in both the indicative and subjunctive moods. Therefore, mood has a lot of influence when conjugating verbs in Spanish and thus, is an important concept to understand.

Indicative Mood

The indicative mood is characterized by expressing actions or ideas that are real or concrete, such as facts, objective statements and easily perceived qualities of a person, place or thing. For example, the sentence "I eat eggs on Sundays" (Yo como huevos los domingos) is in the indicative mood as it is stating a truth or a fact. Even if the tense were to change to, let's say, the preterite tense "I ate eggs on Sunday" (Yo comí huevos el domingo) it is still considered to be in the indicative mood as it remains a statement of fact. The indicative mood is the most frequently used out of the three and thus it is the first one to learn at the basic Spanish level.

Example Sentences for the Indicative Mood:

Debería ir a la cena de despedida.	He/she should go to the going-away dinner.
No vas a ir a la fiesta.	You are not going to the party.
Durante el sismo, mantuvimos la calma.	During the earthquake, we remained calm.
No ganaron.	They didn't win.
Me gustan las flores.	I love flowers.

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is characterized by expressing actions or ideas that are hypothetical and not concrete. These can be in the form of subjective statements and opinions as well as desires, hopes and wishes. The subjunctive mood is used a lot more in Spanish than it is in English so it can sometimes be a tricky concept for native English speakers.

The following verbs are normally expressed in the subjunctive mood by making a subjunctive clause with with the word que (that) followed by a second verb conjugated in the subjunctive:

pedir que	to ask/request
demandar que	to demand
insistir que	to insist
ordenar que	to order
rezar que	to pray
preferir que	to prefer
recomendar que	to recommend
arrepentirse de que	to regret
requerir que	to require
sugerir que	to suggest
esperar que	to wish
negar que	to refuse
sorprender que	to surprise
gustar que	to like
querer que	to want
dudar que	to doubt
necesitar que	to need
sentir que	to feel

Aside from the common verbs used with the subjunctive, here are some other expressions that trigger the subjunctive mood:

No creer que	to not believe that
No es cierto que	It's not true that
Es interesante que	It is interesting that
Es necesario que	It's necessary that
Es posible que	It's possible that
Es ridículo que	It's ridiculous that
Es raro que	It's strange that
Es terrible que	It's terrible that
Es mejor que	It's better that
Es bueno/malo que	It's good/bad that

Example Sentences for the Subjunctive Mood:

Me sorprende que no haya venido a la cena de despedida.	It surprises me that he/she didn't come to the going-away dinner.
Te niego que vayas a la fiesta.	I forbid you from going to the party.
Es importante que mantengamos la calma.	It's important that we all remain calm.
Dudo que ganen.	I doubt that they will win.
Me gusta que me regales flores.	I like that/when you give me flowers.

Imperative

The imperative mood is characterized by making demands and giving direct orders. Only the present tense is used to express the imperative mood. Also, since demands are always made to another person there is no conjugation for the "yo" form.

Example Sentences for the Imperative Mood:

¡Ve a la cena de despedida!	Go to the going-away dinner!
¡No vayas a la fiesta!	Don't go to the party!
¡Mantengan la calma!	Stay calm!
¡Ganen!	Win!
¡Regálame flores!	Give me flowers!

As a quick review, remember that the indicative mood is used to talk about actions and events that are real, while the subjunctive mood is used to talk about hypothetical situations and ideas. Lastly, the imperative mood is to give orders or demands and is only conjugated in the present tense. Now that you have a solid understanding of the various moods in Spanish you can more easily express yourself like a native speaker!

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"Subjunctive, Indicative, and Imperative Moods in Spanish." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. spanish.yourdictionary.com/spanish-language/spanish-grammar/subjunctive-indicative-and-imperative-moods-in-spanish.html.

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Subjunctive, Indicative, and Imperative Moods in Spanish. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://spanish.yourdictionary.com/spanish-language/spanish-grammar/subjunctive-indicative-and-imperative-moods-in-spanish.html

Subjunctive, Indicative, and Imperative Moods in Spanish

By YourDictionary

Mood is a grammatical concept that organizes verb tenses. It refers to the different ways in which the action of a verb can be expressed. The three moods in Spanish are the indicative mood, the subjunctive mood and the imperative mood. Aside from the imperative mood, which is only conjugated in the present tense, all tenses can be conjugated differently in both the indicative and subjunctive moods. Therefore, mood has a lot of influence when conjugating verbs in Spanish and thus, is an important concept to understand.