Re: present or subjunctive?
In a presentation, I am talking about a poem. After I recite a certain passage of the poem I will say:
Creo que es muy hermoso.
But should I use subjunctivo?
Crea que es muy hermoso.
Thanks T
3 Answers
Creer que: When a statement is made about what a person believes or thinks, creer is typically followed by que and the statement of belief:
Creo que el poema es hermoso.
No creer: If creer is used in a negative form, the verb following que typically is in the subjunctive mood:
No creo que el poema esté hermoso. I don't think that the poem is beautiful.
Re: present or subjunctive?
The first thing to be aware of is that the subjunctive is mood and not a tense. This mood is often said to covey uncertainty or hypothetical situations. This is in contrast to the indicative mood which can be looked at as the mood used for declarations (and the mood to which you are likely referring when you made the contrast with the subjunctive) or the imperative mood which is used for giving direct commands or requests. Both the indicative and the subjunctive have there own designated verb tenses. I believe that the the indicative has something like 10 while the subjunctive has somewhere around 6. Both of these include a present tense.
The idea of tense (simple present, present progressive, present perfect etc) is intertwined with the idea of aspect. When you say present tense, it generally conveys the idea that the speaker is speaking in reference to a point in time concurrent to the time in which the speaker made the statement. When speaking of past tenses, it generally conveys the idea that the speaker is making reference to a single point in time that occurred in the past. The future tenses are treated similarly. The idea of aspect has to do with how the action is taking place during that specific point in time. If the action began before the time in question and continues on past that point then the tense carries an imperfect aspect. If the action begins or ends at the point in time being referred to then it carries a perfective aspect.
In a presentation, I am talking about a poem. After I recite a certain passage of the poem I will say:
Creo que es muy hermoso.
But should I use subjunctivo?
Crea que es muy hermoso.
In this sentence, you are making two separate statements (i.e. you are conveying two distinct thoughts or ideas) that are combined into a single sentence by a relative pronoun (que).
1).I think (something) ? [Declaration]
2).She is very beautiful ? [Declaration]
In sentence (1) above, you are making a declaration you are not saying that you "might" think something or that you "probably" think something but rather, you "do" think something. Said another way, the act of "thinking" (not what you are actually thinking about because that is incorporated in your second clause) is not a contrary-to-fact or hypothetical action. Therefore, this thought requires a verb tense in the indicative mood (i.e. "creo").
The second statement (2) conveys the content of these thoughts and is itself a declaration. Namely, you are declaring that she is indeed beautiful and there is no doubt introduced into this statement (i.e. you are not saying that she "might" or "could" be beautiful). Nor are you pointing to a possible future outcome (i.e. she "would" be beautiful if....). Therefore, this statement requires the simple present of the indicative mood as well.
Many times with simple statements which do not include certain copulative verbs (i.e. "to be"), it is possible in English to see whether the clause might require a subjunctive verb form in Spanish by seeing if it is possible to place the auxiliary "do/does/did" in front of the verb. In English, these auxiliary verbs are used to place emphasis on your declaration/statement. Therefore, if it is possible to place one of these auxiliaries verbs in front of your main verb in the above described manner without changing the semantic meaning of your statement, it is likely that the corresponding Spanish verb form will be in the indicative mood as well. For example:
1).Dudo que tenga dinero - I doubt that he has money
?I doubt (something) - I do doubt (something) [Emphasizes declaration of doubt - requires indicative]
?He has money - He does have money [contradicts the doubt implied by the original declaration and thus leaves two contradictory statements in juxtaposition - requires subjunctive] See Below
2).Creo que tiene dinero - I think that he has money
?I think (something) - I do think (something) [emphasizes declaration of belief - requires indicative]
?He has money - He does have money - [reinforces/emphasizes original declaration - requires indicative]
To explain what I mean when I say that the statement "he *does have money" creates two contradictory statements, lets look at what is being said. To say that you doubt something is to say that you believe something to be untrue. That is, if there exist two possible outcomes to a statement, i.e. your belief is that it is either true or false, then saying that you believe something to be untrue means that you believe something to be false, or that you believe the opposite of what the statement implies. In the context of your perception of reality then you can only make two types of statements:
?Declarations - those which you perceive to be true
?Contrary to fact statements - statements which conflict with your perception of reality and therefore are considered false statements.
In relation to the sentence above, the statement, "He has money" can be either true or false. Let's take a look at the implications of this idea. There are two possible ways to view the reality of the situation in regards to the statement "he has money."
1). As a Declaration [requires indicative]
?He has money (true) or ?He has no money (true)
2). As a Contrary-to-fact statement [requires subjunctive]
?He has money (false) or ?He has no money (false)
To clarify, the statement "He has money" can not hold a value of "true" at the same time that the statement "he has no money" also holds a value of "true." (and the same is true of the statements). This may sound a bit confusing in isolation, so lets examine the effects of viewing each of these four scenarios along with an appropriate "belief" clause. Remember that each statement can either hold a true or false value, any contradiction of the truth (or perception of truth) requires the subjunctive. The bolded portions of the text are the statements in question.
"He has money" perceived as a true statement
1). I doubt that he has no money (false) - [subjunctive]
2). I don't believe that he has no money (false) - [subjunctive]
3). I believe that he has money (true) - [indicative]
4). I don't doubt that he has no money (true) [indicative]
"He has money" perceived as a false statement
1). I doubt that he has money (false) - [subjunctive]
2). I don't believe that he has money (false) - [subjunctive]
3). I believe that he has no money (true) - [indicative]
4). I don't doubt that he has money (true) - [indicative]
When dealing with the idea of belief/disbelief, one final way that you might look at the idea of declaration/contrary-to-fact is to have a look at the effect of changing around the order of your statements. With a declarative (true) statement, this is possible; however, this same exchange will not create an acceptable sentence if the statement is contrary-to-fact (false). For example:
1). I believe that he has money (true) ? He has money, I believe.
2). I don't believe that he has money (false) ? He has money, I don't believe.
3). I doubt that he has money (false) ? He has money, I doubt.
4). I don't doubt that he has money (true) ? He has money, I don't doubt.
In the examples above, it is clear that when the statement is contrary-to-fact (and requires the subjunctive) it is not possible to construct an acceptable sentence when the order of clauses is reversed; namely such inversions lead to ungrammaticality.
What it boils down to is whether or not (in the context of your entire sentence) the clause in question is meant to make a declaration or to convey a contrary-to-fact condition. Of course it should be noted that the idea of true/false should always be taken from the context of the speakers perception of reality. That is to say that if you make a statement like:
Deseo que tenga un coche - I wish that she had a car
From the speakers perception of reality, the person being spoken about in the second statement does not have a car. That is to say that the statement "she has a car" is not a declaration (true) but a contrary-to-fact condition (false). For this reason, the statement (in both English and Spanish) carries a present tense subjunctive verb:
Tenga - she had
This is why it is often said that a desire or a wish requires the use of the subjunctive in the dependent clause. From the viewpoint of the speaker, the object or thing being wished for is not something that can be declared because it's existence is contrary-to-fact. Sometimes, it is helpful to look at the idea of contrary-to-fact in terms of hypothetical situations. A hypothetical situation is a situation that cannot hold a true value because there exists a possibility for such a statement to carry a false value. For this reason, one usually cannot make a declarative statement when dealing with statements of probability, conjecture, possibility etc. if there exists any doubt to the validity of the statement in relation to the speakers perceived reality.
Consider then the effect that mood has on, words and expressions which are often used to convey the idea of possibility.
1). Tal vez quiere comer algo [indicative] - Maybe he wants to eat something
2). Tal vez quiera comer algo [subjunctive] - **Maybe he wants to eat something
In (1). above, the verb "querer" is in the indicative, so the statement "He wants to eat something" holds a true value. That is the speaker is making the statement as a declaration - "He does want to eat something ('why don't you try feeding him ya dummy - any idiot can tell that he's hungry')" In the second sentence (2). the speaker is not making a declaration but instead makes a hypothetical statement - "He might want to eat something, but then again "He might not want to eat something." Here, doubt exists, so it is only possible to use the subjunctive because we cannot make declarations about perceived false statements.
I'd use present. You do believe it's beautiful. Subjunctive would imply doubt.
