When you try to make somebody else do something — by asking, telling, recommending, ordering, suggesting, demanding, or forbidding — Spanish marks the influenced action with the subjunctive. The structure is [verb of influence] + que + subjunctive. This is one of the most productive subjunctive patterns in everyday speech, and once you internalize it you can produce indirect commands fluently.
The core pattern
Every verb that exerts influence on a different subject's behavior takes a subjunctive complement. The logic is identical to the rest of the subjunctive system: the influenced action is not a fact, it is something the speaker wants to bring about.
Te pido que llegues puntual a la cena.
I'm asking you to be on time for dinner.
Mi madre siempre me dice que coma más verdura.
My mum is always telling me to eat more vegetables.
The crucial insight: you are not reporting that the action happens — you are exerting force to make it happen. The subordinate verb refers to a target action, not an actual event. That is exactly what the subjunctive marks.
The verbs of influence
These verbs all trigger the subjunctive in their subordinate clause:
| Verb | English | Force |
|---|---|---|
| pedir que | to ask (someone) to | request |
| rogar que | to beg/implore | strong request (formal/literary) |
| suplicar que | to beg | strong request |
| mandar que | to order | command |
| ordenar que | to order | command (formal) |
| exigir que | to demand | strong command |
| insistir en que | to insist on | insistence (influence sense) |
| aconsejar que | to advise | advice |
| recomendar que | to recommend | recommendation |
| sugerir que | to suggest | suggestion |
| proponer que | to propose | proposal |
| prohibir que | to forbid | prohibition |
| impedir que | to prevent | prevention |
| permitir que | to allow | permission |
| dejar que | to let | permission (informal) |
| hacer que | to make (someone do) | causation |
| decir que | to tell to | command (only in this sense — see below) |
El médico me ha recomendado que haga más ejercicio.
The doctor has recommended that I exercise more.
Mis padres no me dejan que salga entre semana.
My parents don't let me go out on weeknights.
La profesora exige que entreguemos los trabajos a tiempo.
The teacher demands that we hand in our work on time.
The dative-doubling pattern: le + a + person
When the influenced person is mentioned with a + person, Spanish almost always also includes the dative pronoun le (or les). This is called "clitic doubling" and it is obligatory in this construction.
Le pidió a Marta que viniera a su casa.
He asked Marta to come over to his place.
Les he dicho a los niños que se laven las manos.
I've told the kids to wash their hands.
El jefe le ha prohibido a Juan que use el móvil en la oficina.
The boss has forbidden Juan from using his phone in the office.
The pronoun le is not optional here. Saying Pidió a Marta que viniera without the le sounds wrong to a native ear — even though grammatically the a Marta alone should be enough.
Tense sequencing: present vs. past triggers
The tense of the triggering verb determines the tense of the subjunctive. This is called consecutio temporum and it is rigid:
| Triggering tense | Subjunctive tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present (pido) | Present subjunctive (vengas) | Te pido que vengas. |
| Present perfect (he pedido) | Present subjunctive (vengas) | Te he pedido que vengas. |
| Future (pediré) | Present subjunctive (vengas) | Te pediré que vengas. |
| Preterite (pedí) | Imperfect subjunctive (vinieras) | Te pedí que vinieras. |
| Imperfect (pedía) | Imperfect subjunctive (vinieras) | Me pedía que viniera. |
| Conditional (pediría) | Imperfect subjunctive (vinieras) | Te pediría que vinieras. |
Le pedí a Marta que viniera a la fiesta.
I asked Marta to come to the party.
La profesora nos dijo que estudiáramos los verbos irregulares.
The teacher told us to study the irregular verbs.
Te recomendaría que hablaras con él antes de tomar una decisión.
I'd recommend you talk to him before making a decision.
In Spain both imperfect subjunctive endings — the ‑ra form (viniera) and the ‑se form (viniese) — are alive and well. You will hear and see both. The ‑ra form is slightly more frequent in spoken Spanish; ‑se has a slightly more literary or formal flavor but is far from archaic.
The two faces of "decir"
The verb decir is the source of the most common confusion in this whole topic, because it has two meanings — and they take different moods.
decir = to tell (someone to do something) → SUBJUNCTIVE
When decir means "to tell someone to do something" — an indirect command — it triggers the subjunctive.
Le dije que viniera a las ocho.
I told him to come at eight.
Mi madre me dice que limpie mi habitación.
My mum is telling me to clean my room.
decir = to tell (someone that something is the case) → INDICATIVE
When decir means "to report" — to communicate information — it takes the indicative.
Le dije que venía a las ocho.
I told him I was coming at eight.
Mi madre me dice que está cansada.
My mum is telling me she's tired.
The contrast is sharpest in minimal pairs:
Le dije que viniera.
I told him to come. (command)
Le dije que vendría.
I told him I would come. (report)
The same dual behavior shows up with insistir en que, though it is rarer:
Insiste en que vayamos a su boda.
He insists we go to his wedding. (pressure)
Insiste en que ya ha pagado la factura.
He insists he has already paid the bill. (assertion)
Prohibition: prohibir and impedir
Prohibir que and impedir que require the subjunctive — the speaker is exerting force to prevent the action from happening.
El nuevo reglamento prohíbe que se fume en las terrazas.
The new regulation forbids smoking on terraces.
La lluvia impidió que el partido se jugara.
The rain prevented the match from being played.
Note that prohibir has a stress shift in its conjugation: yo prohíbo, tú prohíbes, but nosotros prohibimos (no accent). The accent appears on the í in all the singular and 3rd-plural forms.
The infinitive shortcut with certain verbs
Some verbs of influence — dejar, hacer, permitir, prohibir, mandar, ordenar, recomendar, aconsejar, pedir — also allow a more compact construction with the infinitive instead of que + subjunctive, when the influenced person is a clitic pronoun. This is very common in everyday speech.
No me dejan salir esta noche.
They won't let me go out tonight.
Te recomiendo ir en metro.
I recommend taking the metro.
Le pidieron pasar a la sala de espera.
They asked him to step into the waiting room.
This option does not exist for querer, esperar, desear when the subjects differ — those always require que + subjunctive. But for the influence verbs above, both structures are used in parallel:
Te recomiendo que vayas en metro.
I recommend you take the metro. (longer, with que)
Te recomiendo ir en metro.
I recommend you take the metro. (shorter, with infinitive)
Common mistakes
❌ Mi madre me dice que limpio mi habitación.
Incorrect — 'limpio' is indicative; the command sense requires subjunctive.
✅ Mi madre me dice que limpie mi habitación.
My mum is telling me to clean my room.
This is the classic decir-confusion error. If the meaning is "telling me to do X", the verb must be in the subjunctive. Limpio (indicative) would mean "she's telling me that I clean my room" — bizarre.
❌ Pidió a Marta que viniera.
Incomplete — missing the dative clitic 'le'.
✅ Le pidió a Marta que viniera.
He asked Marta to come.
Whenever you specify the influenced person with a + person, you must also include le or les. Native speakers find the version without le noticeably awkward.
❌ Te pedí que vengas.
Incorrect — past trigger requires imperfect subjunctive.
✅ Te pedí que vinieras.
I asked you to come.
When the triggering verb is in the preterite (pedí), the subjunctive must shift to the imperfect (vinieras). The sequence-of-tenses rule is strict.
❌ Quiero que él va al médico.
Incorrect — different-subject 'querer que' needs subjunctive.
✅ Quiero que él vaya al médico.
I want him to go to the doctor.
Although querer is a verb of desire rather than direct influence, it behaves identically: different subject → subjunctive.
❌ Mi jefe me dijo que viniera y que estoy aquí a las nueve.
Inconsistent — both clauses are commands and should match.
✅ Mi jefe me dijo que viniera y que estuviera aquí a las nueve.
My boss told me to come and to be here at nine.
When decir introduces two coordinated commands, both verbs should be in the subjunctive. Mood-mixing is a frequent intermediate-learner slip.
Key takeaways
- Verbs of influence — pedir, mandar, recomendar, sugerir, prohibir, permitir, hacer, and many more — require the subjunctive in their que clause.
- The dative pronoun le/les is obligatory when you also name the influenced person with a + person.
- Decir takes the subjunctive in its command sense ("tell to do X") and the indicative in its reporting sense ("tell that X").
- Past triggers (preterite, imperfect, conditional) shift the subjunctive to the imperfect.
- Several influence verbs also accept a compact infinitive construction with a clitic pronoun (te recomiendo ir, déjame pensar).
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Disparadores del subjuntivo: panoramaB1 — A master inventory of every grammatical trigger that forces the present subjunctive in peninsular Spanish — wishes, emotions, doubt, impersonal judgments, time, purpose, condition and more.
- Subjuntivo vs infinitivo: cuando el sujeto coincideB1 — When the main and subordinate clauses share the same subject, Spanish uses the infinitive — not 'que' + subjunctive.
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