Two more high-frequency verbs complete the list of fully irregular subjunctives: saber ("to know") and dar ("to give"). Both use a stem that cannot be predicted from the indicative, and both are short enough to memorize quickly.
Saber
The subjunctive stem of saber is sep-, which has no obvious connection to the indicative sé, sabes, sabe. You simply have to learn it.
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| yo | sepa |
| tú | sepas |
| él / ella / usted | sepa |
| nosotros | sepamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sepan |
Espero que sepas la respuesta correcta.
I hope you know the correct answer.
Es importante que todos sepamos qué hacer en caso de emergencia.
It's important that we all know what to do in case of an emergency.
No creo que él sepa dónde vivimos.
I don't think he knows where we live.
Dudo que sepan la verdad.
I doubt they know the truth.
Dar
Dar is a short verb with an exceptionally small stem. Its subjunctive uses the single-letter stem d- plus the endings -é, -es, -é, -emos, -en.
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| yo | dé |
| tú | des |
| él / ella / usted | dé |
| nosotros | demos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | den |
Pay close attention to dé (first and third person singular): it carries a written accent to distinguish it from the preposition de ("of" / "from"). Without the accent, readers would not know whether de is a verb or a preposition.
- de — preposition, "of"
- dé — verb, "(that I/he/she) give"
The nosotros form demos and the plural den do not carry accents because there's no ambiguous word to disambiguate from.
Quiero que me des una oportunidad.
I want you to give me a chance.
Espero que me dé su opinión sincera.
I hope he gives me his honest opinion.
Es necesario que demos las gracias a los anfitriones.
It's necessary that we thank the hosts.
Ojalá que los resultados nos den buenas noticias.
I hope the results give us good news.
Side by Side
| Subject | Saber | Dar |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sepa | dé |
| tú | sepas | des |
| él / ella / usted | sepa | dé |
| nosotros | sepamos | demos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sepan | den |
Sample Sentences Combined
Because saber and dar often appear together in the same contexts (asking for or giving information, acknowledging what someone knows), it's useful to see them in combined examples.
Espero que sepas la respuesta y me la des.
I hope you know the answer and give it to me.
Dudo que ellos sepan que les dimos un regalo.
I doubt they know that we gave them a gift.
Now that you've covered all the forms, move on to the triggers overview to learn when to actually use the subjunctive in real sentences.
Related Topics
- Subjunctive of SerB1 — Ser has a fully irregular present subjunctive: sea, seas, sea, seamos, sean.
- Subjunctive of EstarB1 — Estar's present subjunctive carries written accents on almost every form: esté, estés, esté, estemos, estén.
- Subjunctive of Haber (Haya)B1 — The irregular subjunctive of haber — haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayan — powers the present perfect subjunctive and many impersonal expressions.