what Do I use after Esperar?
Hola,
What tense to use after verbs such as Esperar, Desear...., Do I use presente or subjuntivo. For example if I want say: I hpoe you can help me
Espero que puedes me ayudas presente or
Espero que puedas me ayudas subjuntivo
Muchos saludos
I mean the verb poder, should it be puedes (presente) or puedas (subjuntivo)? Or am I free to use any of them?
Gracias y saludos
2 Answers
What tense to use after verbs such as Esperar, Desear...., Do I use presente or subjuntivo.
A note on terminology: The term "presente" refers to a tense; the term "subjuntivo" refers to mood. The difference that you are alluding to has to do with a choice between
| el presente del subjuntivo ? puedas | —and— | el presente del indicativo ? puedes |
Espero que puedas me ayudas
Careful with this and your other example. I'm not sure whether you are aware what a "clause" is, but if you are, as with English, we conjugate only one verb per clause. Each subsequent verb that appears in the clause must be presented in one of the impersonal forms (i.e. as an infinitive, gerundio or participle). The effect of translating your sentence literally would be something like: I hope that you might be able you help to me. Notice how awkward the sentence sounds in English when the verbs "to be able" and "to help" are both conjugated within the same clause. We see the same awkward effect in Spanish when this occurs. As Kiwi has suggested, the proper form would be either "Espero que me puedas *ayudar***" or "Espero que puedas **ayudarme*** (where the verb "ayudar" appears in the infinitive)
What tense [mood] to use after verbs such as Esperar, Desear...., Do I use presente or subjuntivo. For example if I want say: I hope you can help me
In regards to your original question, you might view the difference between the subjunctive and indicative as being the difference between making a declaration and a non-declaration. Consider, for example, the following proposition:
You are able to help me.
If this is taken as a declaration, i.e. the speaker is asserting that indeed, the other person is able to help, then we consider this to be in the indicative. A mental shortcut might be to consider that verbs which take an indicative form are used to give an "indication" (i.e. they declare to the listener) regarding some facet of reality.
Consider, then, that it would be quite odd to make the declaration "You are able to help me" (that is to utter the statement "you are able to help me" as a statement whose purpose is to indicate the true nature of the situation) and then follow this with the statement "I hope." Namely, it makes little sense to hope or wish for something that you are already declaring to be true or in line with reality as you know it.
The subjunctive on the other hand, is used in Spanish when we wish to utter a proposition without making any particular declaration regarding its true disposition. Compare, for example, the following two statements in regards to their respective declarative and non-declarative natures:
Puedas ayudarme ? You might be able to help me.
Puedes ayudarme ? You are able to help me.
If you can wrap your head around the idea that when we hope or wish for something, the "something" that we are wishing for is presented "non-declaratively" then you will be well on your way to understanding the core meaning behind the subjunctive. Namely, we don't wish or hope for something that already is. For example, it would be odd to wish for there to be world peace and then declare in the same breath that world peace already exists:
I wish...
(1). ...for the world to be at peace/that the world be at peace/that the world might be at peace. (subjunctive/non-declarative)
(2). ...that the world is at peace. (indicative/declarative)
Similarly, we would not hope for something to occur and then in the same breath indicate that thing we are hoping for is in fact occurring. That is, it would be odd to say:
You are (in fact) helping me, and I am hoping for that help. (indicative)
It would, however, be reasonable to say something like:
You might be able to help me, and I am hoping for that help (subjunctive)
Notice that the words "wish" and "hope" both have a certain prospective nature in that they are used to refer to an unrealized event. Looking at it this way, using the indicative to describe what is being hoped/wished for would be like saying that you are hoping/wishing for some unrealized event to occur/be true while at the same time declaring that this event is already occurring/true. Consequently, we use the subjunctive to avoid making such a declaration.
If you have a change of subject you use que and the subjunctive: 
Ie - you hope/desire/command etc that someone else do something.
Espero que me puedas ayudar.
But if there's no change of subject, eg you hope that you can do something then you just use the infinitive.
Espero ir. I hope that I can go./I hope to go.
