Spainish. Present Subjunctive

The present subjuntive is in many cases used with clauses which follow que.

It is also used after subordinators such as antes de que, para que and others (below).

Some of these subordinators always require the subjunctive and others may or may not require it depending on the situation.

Subordinators which always require the subjunctive

The subjunctive is always used when following clauses which are started using subordinators - used to introduce the subordinate clause

before ... ... antes de que ...
I have to go before he/she comes Tengo que ir antes de que venga
I need to buy it before I forget Necesito comprarlo antes de que me olvide


in order that ... ... para que ... I always do it so that he is happy Siempre lo hago para que este contento He tells us jokes to make us laugh Nos dice chistes para que reamos
The literal translations using 'in order that' are 'I always do it in order that he is happy' and 'He tells jokes in order that we laugh'.