Usage question: (de) que

Question

How do you know when to use "que" vs. "de que"? When should one use "de"? I've asked a Spanish-speaking friend of mine and he said they're the same. I appreciate his answer but I'd like to be sure and get other opinions/views/thoughts... confirmations :D I'll put an example below:

Me alegro que verte

Me alegro de que estás bien

By the way, my textbook (although it may be wrong) has it that the verb "alegrarse" is continually paired up with "de" when saying "to be happy about); so "alegrarse de" is what is given.

Thanks in advance

Thanks! Everyone was so helpful! - Goldie_Miel, Nov 3, 2010

Answer 1

Me alegro de verte

Me alegro de que estés bien.

In the first case, alegrarse is followed by an infinitive: ver(te) Another example, Me alegro de salir al parque

In the second case, the correct form is alegrarse de+ que+subjunctive.

alegrase+de+que+indicative is not correct.

Answer 2

Linked Verbs (This is an excerpt from Fred H. Jehle's website)

Verbs followed by de plus an infinitive:

Verbs meaning "to stop" or "to finish" are normally followed by de plus an infinitive.

acabar de = to have just (done something), acordarse de = to remember (ue), alegrarse de = to be happy to, arrepentirse de = to regret, to repent of (ie,i), cansarse de = to tire of, to grow tired of, dejar de = to stop (doing something), depender de = to depend on (ie), jactarse de = to boast of, olividarse de = to forget, parar de = to stop (doing something), pensar de (ie) = to think about (i.e., to have an opinion about), quejarse de = to complain of, terminar de = to finish, to stop doing, tratar de = to try to.

Note: that the reflexive form is followed by a preposition plus an infinitie, but the non-reflexive form is followed by an infinitive without a preposition.

Nice. Thanks for posting that. - KevinB, Nov 2, 2010

also, from about spanish.com: Almost always, if you can change "that" to "which" and the sentence still makes sense, "that" is being used as a relative pronoun and you should use que. Otherwise, use de que. - Maria-Russell, Nov 3, 2010

Muchas gracias :) - Goldie_Miel, Nov 3, 2010

Answer 3

Ok then, what about "Me alegra verte" would that just be "Me alegra que estés bien" because you don't need the "de" with just regular old alegrar? Gracias.

The dictionary here says you don't need it in that case: me alegró el día = it made my day - KevinB, Nov 2, 2010

Answer 4

alegrarse de algo = to be made happy by something. Me alegro de verte is a good example.

In the second example, the Me alegro de all goes together, then the que + subjunctive go together. The que is there because the following verb is subjunctive.