Spanish verbs of advice or order with El Presente de Subjuntivo
Verbs that give either advice or an order in El Presente or El Presente Progresivo are followed by El Presente de Subjuntivo. Some of these verbs are:
sugerir (to suggest)
recomendar (to recommend)
animar [a] (to encourage)
aconsejar (to advise)
prohibir (to ban)
ordenar (to order)
permitir (to allow)
necesitar (to need)
These verbs are normally accommpanied by a direct or indirect object pronoun, indicating who the suggestion / recommendation / encouragement is for.
Let's see some examples:
Mi médico me sugiere que haga un curso de meditación.My doctor is suggesting that I do a meditation course.
Te recomiendo que compres este otro coche. Es mucho mejor.I recommend that you buy this other car. It is much better.
Os animo a que vengáis todos a nuestra fiesta. Será genial.I encourage you all to come to our party. It'll be great.
Le están aconsejando que no firme los documentos todavía.They are advising him not to sign the documents yet.
Mis padres me prohiben que beba alcohol. Dicen que todavía soy muy joven.My parents forbid me to drink alcohol. They say I am still very young.
Notice how most of these have a direct or indirect object indicating the person receiving the order, request, suggestion or encouragement (me, te, nos, le...)
In order to use the subjunctive, we always need these verbs to be followed by "que". (Sugiero que..., Recomiendo que...)
Bear in mind that if we use the main verb in El Pretérito Perfecto, we could also use El Presente de Subjuntivo in the subordinate clause. Have a look:
Sometimes verbs giving advice / order can be followed by an infinitive. In this case, "que" shouldn't be used. For example:
This would be incorrect:
Os animo a que venir a mi fiesta.
Entonces, ¿me recomiendas que probar ese restaurante chino?
Os prohibo que entrar en mi casa.
Want to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Braimap today »
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Mi médico me sugiere que haga un curso de meditación.My doctor is suggesting that I do a meditation course.
Te recomiendo que compres este otro coche. Es mucho mejor.I recommend that you buy this other car. It is much better.
Os animo a que vengáis todos a nuestra fiesta. Será genial.I encourage you all to come to our party. It'll be great.
Le están aconsejando que no firme los documentos todavía.They are advising him not to sign the documents yet.
No le permito que me hable así. Es usted un grosero.I won't let you talk to me like that. You are very rude.
Nos han aconsejado que paguemos con la tarjeta de crédito.They advised/have advised us to pay with the credit card.
Entonces, ¿me recomiendas probar ese restaurante chino?So, do you recommend that I try that Chinese restaurant?
