Subjunctive of Estar | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Estar is technically a regular -ar verb (in fact its endings follow the standard -e, -es, -e, -emos, -en pattern), but it's almost always listed with the irregulars because of one striking detail: four of its five forms carry a written accent. This makes its subjunctive easy to recognize on the page.

Conjugation

Subject	Present Subjunctive
yo	esté
tú	estés
él / ella / usted	esté
nosotros	estemos
ellos / ellas / ustedes	estén

The only form without an accent is estemos, because that form is already stressed on the next-to-last syllable by the normal rules of Spanish pronunciation.

Why the Accents?

Without the accent, este would be pronounced with the stress on the first syllable and would also collide with the demonstrative adjective este ("this"). The written accent disambiguates the two words and indicates that the verb is stressed on the -e ending.

este (this, demonstrative) vs. esté (that he be, subjunctive)
estes (nonexistent) vs. estés (that you be, subjunctive)

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Think of the accent as a little flag that says "this is the verb, not the demonstrative." Every form of the subjunctive of estar needs an accent except for estemos, which follows the default stress pattern.

Examples

Because estar describes states, feelings, and locations, it appears in subjunctive clauses whenever you wish, doubt, or judge someone's temporary condition or whereabouts.

Espero que estés bien después del viaje.

I hope you're well after the trip.

Mi mamá quiere que estemos en casa antes de las diez.

My mom wants us to be home before ten.

Dudo que estén listos para salir.

I doubt they're ready to leave.

Ojalá que mi perro esté durmiendo tranquilo.

I hope my dog is sleeping peacefully.

Es mejor que no estés solo esta noche.

It's better that you not be alone tonight.

Me alegra que estemos todos juntos para la cena.

I'm glad we're all together for dinner.

Estar + Gerund in the Subjunctive

Estar is also used to form progressive constructions ("to be doing something"). When the progressive needs to appear in a subjunctive clause, only estar changes to the subjunctive; the gerund stays the same.

Indicative: Está trabajando. ("He is working.")
Subjunctive: Dudo que esté trabajando. ("I doubt he's working.")

No creo que estén estudiando a esta hora.

I don't think they're studying at this hour.

Quiero que estés escuchándome cuando hable.

I want you to be listening to me when I speak.

Common Mistakes

There are two mistakes students often make with the subjunctive of estar:

Forgetting the accent. Without it, este is a demonstrative, not a verb. Always write esté, estés, esté, estén.
Confusing it with ser. Remember: estar is used for states, emotions, locations, and ongoing actions, while ser is used for defining characteristics.

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A helpful check: if you can replace the verb in English with "feel" or "am located," Spanish almost always uses estar. In the subjunctive, that means esté / estés / esté / estemos / estén, accents and all.

Side-by-side with Ser

Sentence	Use	Reason
Quiero que seas feliz.	ser	Happiness as a defining quality
Quiero que estés feliz hoy.	estar	Feeling happy right now
Espero que seas fuerte.	ser	A strong person (trait)
Espero que estés fuerte después de la cirugía.	estar	Feeling strong (state)

Es importante que los estudiantes estén atentos en clase.

It's important that students be attentive in class.

Continue with ir, whose subjunctive looks nothing like its indicative forms.