KS4 · Spanish · Year 11
Buenas intenciones: subjunctive after 'para que'
Travel and tourism: lugares y personas famosos
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/8
Your learning goal
I can use the subjunctive after 'para que' to express purpose or intention.
1 of 8
Buenas intenciones: subjunctive after 'para que': slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can use the subjunctive after 'para que' to express purpose or intention.
Key learning points
- The subjunctive indicates uncertainty, wishing or possibility, or refers to actions that have not yet happened.
- The conjunction 'para que' translates as 'so that' and is followed by a subjunctive verb.
- Spanish uses the subjunctive after 'para que' even though English uses the indicative after 'so that'.
Words to know
- subjunctive
- verb form that indicates actions which are uncertain, wished for, or that have not yet happened; its forms are different from the indicative
- para
- preposition meaning 'to', 'for' + noun or 'in order to' + infinitive
- para que
- conjunction meaning 'so that', which is followed by a subjunctive verb
Common mistakes
We always use 'para que' + subjunctive to express intentions in Spanish.
We only use 'para que' + subjunctive to express intentions when the subject of the 2nd verb in the sentence is different from the first. Where the subject is the same in the whole sentence, express intentions with 'para' + infinitive.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Teachers can increase the level of challenge for Task B2 by asking students to translate the sentence without referring to the hints on the slide. Additionally, an extension could involve asking students to write their own sentence(s) with 'para' and/or 'para que'.