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Diane

Jul 8, 2002, 9:27 AM

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Estar, present subjunctive, 1st person

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Can someone give me an example of using esté (estar 1st pers. present subjunctive). Since it is a "command" I don´t see how it can be used in 1st person. Am I wrong? BTW I love this forum and learn so much from all of you. Un mil gracias.
Diane

DavidMTY

Jul 8, 2002, 11:31 AM

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Estar, present subjunctive, 1st person

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You asked about esté generally, so I will comment on all three persons, first, second, third, where it can be used.My New years Resolutions.Que esté más abierto a los comentarios de los demás.
Que esté más tiempo con mis seres queridos.
Que esté de buen humor.
Que esté en México lindo y querido para septiembre.
Que no esté siempre en pleitos.
Que no esté aumentando de peso.Not forgetting the second person use of "esté":
Esté usted quieta!
Sr. H. Embajador, por favor, esté usted con el Presidente a las 7:00 en punto.And third person:
Necesito que Pedro esté con los niños como un buen papá.
Que todo esté bien contigo!Note the use of "que" without the accent softens the sometimes odd feeling of awkwardness with this verb, as you point out. When commanding ourselves, unless we are schitzo, we usually look to God to give us the ability. A second person command probably comes out of the same derivation using subjunctive, though the que is as necessary as an appendix. (Quiero que me escuches!) The shortened command form, Escúchame, may just have been a shortcut by speakers. But esté has nothing special, try telling yourself to listen to yourself. Commands recognized in this form are thus usually defined by being second person. To require something of yourself, though of course it it not awkward at all if you really mean to say it, and aren't just trying hard to come up with (imperfect) examples. It sort of assumes an "espero" or an "Ojalá" which is optional for waht you can think of as a firt person "command".Getting back to the schitzophrenic,I would assume they consider themselves two separate people, and thus use Tú or Usted refering to their other half. As far as the person who talks to themselves I owould assume the "que" forms, but it would be interesting to hear someone with some direct and broader range of dealings with schitzophrenics and talkers to themselvers.
Best...David(MTY): Can someone give me an example of using esté (estar 1st pers. present subjunctive). Since it is a "command" I don´t see how it can be used in 1st person. Am I wrong? BTW I love this forum and learn so much from all of you. Un mil gracias.
: Diane

jerezano

Jul 10, 2002, 7:35 PM

Post #3 of 3 (2315 views)

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Estar subjunctive present

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Hello:The present subjunctive for Estar goes as follows:yo esté
tu estés
Ud, él,ella esté
nosotros estemos
ustedes, ellos, ellas esténThe examples below which were given to you by other readers use the subjunctive in the wish form, not the command form. In front of the que is the understood Ojalá or Espero or Deseo or Quiero or It would be nice .....: My New years Resolutions.: [Deseo] que esté más abierto a los comentarios de los demás.
: [Ojalá] que esté más tiempo con mis seres queridos.
: [Quiero] que esté de buen humor.
: " que esté en México lindo y querido para septiembre.
: " que no esté siempre en pleitos.
: " que no esté aumentando de peso.Second person informal: [Deseo] Que tú estés aquí a las siete si quieres ir con nosotros.Third person formal: [Deseo] Que Ud. esté aquí a las siete etc..Commands:Esté usted quieta! This is the command form, but I would never use it. I would suggest if it is really necessary: ¡Cállense ustedes, por favor! or of course ¡Cállese Ud. por favor! For a child ¡Cállate¡ which is of course the third person singular of the present indicative. : Sr. H. Embajador, por favor, esté usted con el Presidente a las 7:00 en punto. This is also the command form and perfectly OK in this case. But not command forms:: Necesito que Pedro esté con los niños como un buen papá. This is not the command form but an expression of necessity.: And the third person [Deseo} [q]Que todo esté bien contigo! The subject is todo which is third person. This is a desire, not a command.Explanation of command forms: The second person informal positive command is usually the third person form of the present indicative. ¡Está aqui tú a las siete, a punto, mañana. Has faltado demasiados días! [This is rather strong]. The negative command, however, is the subjunctive form: No estés aquí manaña. Has trabajado muchas horas sobras y necesitas un descansito.

Escúchame is the second person informal positive command. [Note it is the third person form of the present indicative] The third person formal positive commands are esté and escuche which are subjunctive forms. The negative commands are of course also subjunctive forms ¡Esté Ud. aquí mañana a las siete en punto. Ha faltado demasiados días! No esté Ud. aquí mañana. Ha trabajado muchas horas.....No escúche Ud. a ese señor. Es mentiroso. ¡Escúcheme Ud. por favor! Mi observación es importante para su trabajo.Does this help you? I hope so. The first thing you have to recognize is that the subjunctive is not always a command. The second is that Positive Commands in the second person informal are usually the third person forms of the present indicative. The third is that yes, you use the subjunctive form for all formal positive commands and for all negative commands including the second person informal. Adios. Jerezano.