No faltó quien opinase que . . .

Question

No faltó quien opinase que aquello era una exageración, que en Barcelona no iba a pasar nada y que en España, cuna y pináculo de la civilización cristiana, la barbarie era cosa de los anarquistas, y éstos, en bicicleta y con parches en los calcetines, no podían llegar muy lejos.

This is a sentence from La sombra del viento referring to a lawyer who had the unusual foresight to send his family to safety before the civil war. I have two questions.

(1) Could we replace opinase with opinara, with no change in the meaning? Does opinase "sound better" or why is it used here?

(2) Does this take the subjunctive because (a) no faltó is an impersonal statement, (b) quien is not a specific person, (c) the sentence is negative -- any or all of the above or something else?

Sorry to be so dense, but I am really trying to understand this. An example or counterexample would be most helpful.

Answer 1

Counterexample, hehe. This is not maths, Natasha.

Opinara ? Opinase when it is a typical subjunctive value. Exactly the same. No difference. It is a matter of personal taste, but it sometimes is useful: if you have to many "ra" sounds around, better avoid "opinara", or it won't sound elegant; if you have too many "se", do the opposite.

Do you want to "declarar" the subordinate? It is a relative clause, so you are referring to someone implicitly: "una persona opinó que era una exageración" (it could also be several people). If you "declaras" this, you want others to know this specific information from you, so you must have seen or heard someone in particular to make such statement; otherwise why state it purposefully? If that is your intention, use indicative. E.g. "No faltó quien opinó que era una exageración. Por supuesto, estoy hablando de Manuel, como siempre".

If you don't want to declare such information, because you are not talking about anyone in particular, or you prefer not to point at anyone, use subjunctive: "opinara/opinase". Thus, if you say "No faltó quien opinase que era una exageración.", no one can assume that you are talking at anyone in particular, and no one can tell you something like: "Te quivocas: Manuel no dio su opinión"; it wouldn't make sense, and you could reply: "Yo no he hecho tal declaración" (I used subjunctive).

Answer 2

By the way, here is another possible translation for Lazarus´ "declarar": contend for. However, maybe that's too old-fashioned. What do other people think'

Answer 3

Natasha said:

By the way, here is another possible translation for Lazarus´ "declarar": contend for. However, maybe that's too old-fashioned. What do other people think?

I don't think "contend" would work, because It doesn't have to be a fact; it can be an opinion, a guess, something you know, something you imagine... but it has to be something you clearly want to express, something you want others to know, regardless of what you express with other verbs. I still believe that "declare" matches this:

declare: to announce something clearly, firmly, publicly or officially:
(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

You can announce something clearly, but it doesn't necessarily have to be true, right? For truths you have "assert" and "contend":

assert: FORMAL to say that something is certainly true.
contend: to state something is true or is a fact:
(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

Answer 4

Natasha said:

By the way, here is another possible translation for Lazarus´ "declarar": contend for. However, maybe that's too old-fashioned. What do other people think?

"contend for", no. "contend that", possible but subject to Lazarus' comments. ("contend for" is to be in contention with some person(s) for/about something.)
"If you wanted to intend that ..." might work (but is old-fashioned in this kind of construction).

Answer 5

You are both entirely correct, of course, about "contend," although I was thinking more along these lines:

1. to assert or maintain earnestly: He contended that taxes were too high.
   (from dictionary.com)

There's nothing wrong with "declare," but somehow it just doesn't seem to convey everything that Lazarus is putting into it. For that reason, I keep reaching for a better word . . . maybe there isn't one.

Answer 6

Natasha said:

There's nothing wrong with "declare," but somehow it just doesn't seem to convey everything that Lazarus is putting into it. For that reason, I keep reaching for a better word . . . maybe there isn't one.

I too am still looking for another word, because regardless of the dictionary's definition, it is not understood as I intended, and instead of helping, it makes things worse.