Me alegro que vs me alegro de que

Question

Hello,

I was wondering if there is a rule for when to use 'de que' vs 'que' with 'me alegro.' ?

Answer 1

Using "alegrarse" (me alegro, te alegras, se alegra...), the preposition is compulsory, like with many other pronominal verbs. The structure is "[Yo] me alegro de + [something]". That something can be a noun (e.g. Me alegro de eso) or a noun clause, like "Me alegro de que vengas".

Using "alegrar", the subject is the thing that makes you happy, and it is generally placed after the verb, especially if this subject is a subordinate clause (e.g. Me alegra que te hayas divertido). The person who experiences this happiness is expressed with an indirect object, so this verb is used here exactly like "gustar": "Me alegra algo", "Me alegra que vengas".

• Is this correct then? "Me alegro de que preguntara." I'm happy that I asked. And also basically what you're saying is: alegrarse uses 'de que' and alegrar uses 'que' only. Correct? - Anna Jul 10, 2011

Answer 2

I can't tell you any rules, but I can say it's "Me alegro de que" and "Me alegra que" most of the time.

• I think it's "me alegro de que" & "me alegra que" *all* the time. - Deanski Jul 9, 2011
• Yeah me too, but I put most to hedge my bets. - jeezzle Jul 9, 2011

Answer 3

I can't tell you any rules, but I can say it's "Me alegro de que" and "Me alegra que" most of the time.

So then when it's 'Me alegro' you use 'de que' and when it's 'Me alegra' you use 'que' only?

Answer 4

I think that you are understanding the difference. It depends on whether you are using alegrar +d.o.p. (me) or alegrarse (reflexive...me alegro)

Your answer is given in this discussion. I suggest that you only read the 1st 1/2 of the discussion because once Lazarus jumps in the grammar explanation gets a little technical [unless you enjoy studying that sort of thing.] The discussion starts to revolve around whether the object pronoun used with alegrar is acusative or dative.

• Thank you, I did read through that before I posted here. It just confuses me because it's all in Spanish. - Anna Jul 10, 2011