{"id":137723,"date":"2023-08-27T17:31:29","date_gmt":"2023-08-27T21:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/spanish-impersonal-expressions\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T09:02:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T14:02:47","slug":"spanish-impersonal-expressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/spanish-impersonal-expressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Impersonal Expressions in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most probably, you have already started flirting with the conditional sentences<\/a>, the Spanish pronouns<\/a> and, who knows, even the subjunctive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, you can use all that information to learn everything you want about Spanish impersonal expressions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this post, you’ll learn how to create impersonal expressions in Spanish using the subjunctive and indicative moods with the help of plenty of example sentences.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What Are Impersonal Expressions in Spanish?<\/h2>\n

Very simply put, impersonal expressions are sentences where there is no specific subject, no one or nothing performing the action of the verb\u2014hence the word “impersonal.”<\/p>\n

An impersonal verb<\/a> is one that only exists in the third person singular and it is almost never accompanied by an expressed subject.<\/p>\n

You have been using impersonality and impersonal verbs in English<\/a> ever since you started talking coherently, for example:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is raining.\u201d (Yes! This is an impersonal sentence. What exactly is \u201cit\u201d? What is doing the action of raining? Nothing and no one! It is just raining!)<\/p>\n

“There is a book on the table.” (What is “there”? It is neither a person nor a thing. It is just “there.”)<\/p>\n

It is true that Spanish and English have different ways of expressing impersonality, but at the end of the day, they are used for the exact same purpose. Here you have the translations of the previous sentences:<\/p>\n

Est\u00e1 lloviendo. <\/em>(It is raining.)<\/p>\n

Hay un libro en la mesa. <\/em>(There is a book on the table.)<\/p>\n

The Subjunctive<\/strong><\/p>\n

The subjunctive is used with many of the impersonal expressions you will learn in this post.<\/p>\n

Briefly speaking, the Spanish Subjunctive mood<\/a> is the one we use (as opposed to the indicative<\/a> and the imperative<\/a> moods) in order to express w<\/strong>ishes, e<\/strong>motions, i<\/strong>mpersonal expressions, r<\/strong>equests and d<\/strong>oubts. The five letters in bold spell “weird,”<\/strong> so use this mnemonic technique to remember all the groups.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

No importa qui\u00e9n lo haya hecho. <\/em>(It does not matter who has done it.)<\/p>\n

Es imprescindible que vuelvas a tiempo. <\/em>(It is imperative that you come back on time.)<\/p>\n

Spanish Impersonal Expressions<\/h2>\n

There are many different ways of expressing impersonality, and normally each of them has its own rules and formulas.<\/p>\n

Below are the 10 most commonly used impersonal phrases for talking or writing impersonally in Spanish.<\/p>\n

(No) Es<\/em> + adjective + que<\/em> + subjunctive<\/h3>\n

This formula can be translated as “It is\/is not + adjective + that…”<\/strong> and it is, undoubtedly, one of the most common ways of expressing impersonality. It is also one of the first structures you learn when you start getting to know the Spanish subjunctive.<\/p>\n

You can use practically any adjective in order to create expressions with this formula. The only two things you have to bear in mind is that the adjective will always be in its basic, masculine form,<\/strong> and the verb following que <\/em>will be in the subjunctive mood:<\/p>\n

Es importante que hagas ejercicio cada d\u00eda. <\/em>(It is important that you exercise every day.)<\/p>\n

Es imprescindible que env\u00edes la carta cuanto antes. <\/em>(It is imperative that you send the letter as soon as possible.)<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the adjective is not followed by “that” in English, especially when we are dealing with expressions that sound a little bit unnatural when translated literally from Spanish. Notice how the Spanish construction remains the same, no matter what the English translation looks like:<\/p>\n

Es necesario que vayas a la escuela. <\/em>(It is necessary for you to go to school.)<\/p>\n

Es importante que cocines tus propias comidas. <\/em>(It is important for you to cook your own meals.)<\/p>\n

If you want to make the sentence negative, the only change you need to make is adding n<\/em>o<\/em> at the beginning of the impersonal expression.<\/strong> The rest of the sentence remains intact:<\/p>\n

No es imprescindible que env\u00edes la carta cuanto antes. <\/em>(It is not imperative that you send the letter as soon as possible.)<\/p>\n

Exceptions for certainty<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a couple of adjectives in Spanish that mean certainty.<\/p>\n

Since certainty is an indicative realm, the subjunctive is not used when they appear in this type of construction.<\/strong> Instead, the indicative mood needs to be used:<\/p>\n

Es cierto que no quiero volver. <\/em>(It is true that I don’t want to go back.)<\/p>\n

Es seguro que no vamos a ir a la playa. <\/em>(It is certain that we are not going to go to the beach.)<\/p>\n

Watch out, however, for sentences with a certainty adjective that is negated.<\/strong> In this case, they need to take the subjunctive!<\/p>\n

No es cierto que no quiera volver. <\/em>(It is not true that I do not want to go back.)<\/p>\n

No es seguro que no vayamos a ir a la playa. <\/em>(It is not certain that we are not going to go to the beach.)<\/p>\n

(No) Es<\/em> un\/una<\/em> + noun + que<\/em> + subjunctive<\/h3>\n

This construction is very similar to the first one but this time we have a noun instead of an adjective.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The use of the indefinite article un\/una<\/em> is compulsory. Do not forget it!<\/p>\n

Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

Es una pena que no puedas venir. <\/em>(It is a pity that you can’t come.)<\/p>\n

Es una sorpresa que est\u00e9s aqu\u00ed. <\/em>(It is a surprise that you are here.)<\/p>\n

As it happened with the first construction, you only need to add no <\/em>to make the sentence negative:<\/p>\n

No es una sorpresa que ya no tenga dinero. <\/em>(It is not a surprise that he has no money already.)<\/p>\n

Para m\u00ed no es un alivio que digas eso. <\/em>(For me it is not a relief that you say that.)<\/p>\n

A variation with the infinitive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Up until now, all the sample sentences have referred to a person different from the speaker, but Spanish likes exceptions, variations and modifications.<\/p>\n

This is especially true when the speaker and the person they are talking about\/referring to are the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In these cases, “que + <\/em>subjunctive” disappears, and it gets replaced by an infinitive:<\/p>\n

Es una pena no poder ir. <\/em>(It is a pity not to be able to go.)<\/p>\n

Es un placer estar aqu\u00ed. <\/em>(It is a pleasure to be here.)<\/p>\n

(No) Es<\/em> bueno\/malo<\/em> + infinitive<\/h3>\n

The adjectives bueno <\/em>and malo <\/em>tend to give a bit of a headache to some students sometimes, especially when they are mixed with bien <\/em>and mal <\/em>(see next point).<\/p>\n

But let’s imagine for a second that you do not know what an adjective or an adverb is, or that you do not even want to know. There is a very simple trick you can use in order to always be correct: bueno <\/em>and malo <\/em>can only follow the verb ser <\/em><\/strong>in these impersonal constructions.<\/p>\n

Use “es bueno\/malo + <\/em>infinitive” when you want to say that doing something (any activity) is either good or bad<\/strong> for you, for your health, for the environment, etc.:<\/p>\n

No es bueno comer tanto. <\/em>(It is not good to eat so much.)<\/p>\n

Es bueno correr por la ma\u00f1ana. <\/em>(It is good to run in the morning.)<\/p>\n

You can also start the sentences with the infinitive if you want:<\/p>\n

Comer tanto no es bueno.<\/em><\/p>\n

Correr por la ma\u00f1ana es bueno.<\/em><\/p>\n

(No) Est\u00e1<\/em> bien\/mal<\/em> + infinitive<\/h3>\n

Just as bueno <\/em>and malo <\/em>could only be used with the verb ser <\/em>in this type of constructions, bien <\/em>and mal <\/em>can only be used with estar.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though the meanings of both couples of expressions are quite similar, es bueno\/malo <\/em>normally refers to things that are good or bad for your health, while est\u00e1 bien\/mal <\/em>has a more general meaning or “to be OK\/acceptable\/advisable or not.”<\/p>\n

Here are some sample sentences:<\/p>\n

Est\u00e1 bien cerrar la puerta cuando no hay nadie en casa. <\/em>(It is advisable to close the door when no one’s home.)<\/p>\n

Est\u00e1 mal hablar con la boca llena. <\/em>(It is not OK to speak with your mouth full.)<\/p>\n

You can find more examples in the FluentU<\/a> language learning program, where Spanish videos are paired with learning tools. You can search for est\u00e1 bien <\/em>or any of the other phrases in this post to hear more examples of them being spoken by native Spanish speakers.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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Hearing more sentences that use this construct can be helpful. Luckily, there’s a useful song by Paulo Londra<\/a> that uses est\u00e1 bien <\/em>throughout the chorus line (warning: the lyrics get spicy).<\/p>\n

In reality, it is very easy to distinguish them, since bueno <\/em>and malo <\/em>are adjectives and bien <\/em>and mal <\/em>are adverbs<\/a>.<\/p>\n