richard
The Subjunctive tense Hi I wonder whether anyone can help me understand a couple of queries that I have with the subjunctive tense In my text book it states that we have to use the subjunctive after verbs of commanding or instructing. For example "me dice que yo decidida" (I do appreciate that there are other rules also covering the use of the subjunctive) However in the next chapter of the book, there is a paragraph that states "Mercedes vuelve a casa con las aspirinas. El farmacéutico no me ha dado más que estas aspirinas – dice a Enrique., echando agua en un vaso – y dice que debo ir al dentista. " I expected the last phrase to be in the subjunctive and to read " y dice que deba ir al dentista. " because the pharmacist had told her that she must go to the dentist. Am I right in thinking that the subjunctive should have been used in that last phrase ? Also in the same chapter the dentist says to Mercedes "le aconsejo que no coma tantos caramelos." The sub clause uses the subjunctive, which I fully understand However, when I used google to translate the sentence "The advice of the dentist is that she does not eat so many sweets" it stated " El consejo del dentista es que ella no come tantos caramelos" The sub clause is now in the indicative. Can anyone explain why the indicative and not the subjunctive is used in those 2 phrases many thanks Richard
19 авг. 2019 г., 16:29
Ответы · 7
"me dice que yo decida" - direct command, but it is more natural to say "me dice que (yo) tengo que decidir". "y dice que debo ir al dentista." (not a direct command because he's saying you must go or should go, giving you the option). A direct command would be (vete al dentista) or (qué te vayas al dentista.) le aconsejo que no coma tantos caramelos / le sugiero que no coma tantos caramelos El consejo del dentista es que ella no coma / comiera tantos caramelos ( the advice of the dentist is for her not to eat so many sweets. ) -You translated the sentence incorrectly.-
20 августа 2019 г.
Decir que can do two things. It can either relay information that was stated or it can be to tell someone to do something. Relaying information is indicative. Commands or advice are subjunctive. Dijo que quería ir a la fiesta. = He said (that) he wanted to go to the party. Dijo que fueras a la fiesta. = He told you TO go to the party. The subjunctive in Spanish is often just the indicative (specifically the infinitive) in English sentences of this style. Aconsejo que no comas dulces. = I advise you TO not eat candy. El consejo del doctor es que no debes comer dulces. = The doctor's advice is that you shouldn't eat candy. In the first example it is a direct advice to the person of what to do, acting as a pseudo command. In the second it is relaying the information of what his advice consisted of.
19 августа 2019 г.
Hello, Richard. In the first phrase «...y dice que deba(debo) ir al dentista. (Que) in Spanish, as you know, is a relative pronoun, that’s why it is a subordinate clause. Personally, I think there is a spelling mistake. In Spanish and in that context is (debo). In the first phrase the verb states the same. It is reported speech. Here is an example: «Si en el estilo indirecto el verbo principal (de habla) está en presente no varía el tiempo verbal de lo comunicado. Nótese que el imperativo utiliza su segunda forma, el presente de subjuntivo». "Como"→ Dice que come "Comeré"→ Dice que comerá "Comía"→ Dice que comía "Comería"→ Dice que comería "Comí"→ Dice que comió "Habré comido"→ Dice que habrá comido "He comido"→ Dice que ha comido "Habría comido"→ Dice que habría comido "Había comido"→ Dice que había comido "Comed"→ Dice que comáis El farmacéutico dice que debo ir al dentista. “However, when I used google to translate the sentence "The advice of the dentist is that she does not eat so many sweets" it stated " El consejo del dentista es que ella no come(coma) tantos caramelos" The sub clause is now in the indicative.” In this case, Google Translator has a mistake. The sub clause is in the subjunctive mood. The doctor recommends that he take the pills with food. Subjunctive conjugation: he take El médico recomienda que él tome los comprimidos con la comida. Here are some links: https://espanol.lingolia.com/es/gramatica/estructura-de-la-oracion/estilo-indirecto http://users.jyu.fi/~torremor/cursos/gramatica/250.html I hope you find it useful! Regards. Nahuel
19 августа 2019 г.
I'm sorry. I answered twice.
19 августа 2019 г.
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