Why use the subjunctive here?

Question

In the English word of the day, why is the subjunctive used here?

Leyendas que no estén tanto en inglés como en español.

Which I'm sure means something like, "Inscriptions that are not the same in English as in Spanish."

Thanks for help!

Answer 1

subjunctive with indefinite or nonexistent antecedents

Not sure that this suggests the subjunctive since neither the "wishful thinking" or "non-existence" applies.

thanks! - Himself12794, Dec 18, 2011

Answer 2

You only have an incomplete phrase here. The entire sentence and probably some context is needed to say if subjunctive or indicative is necessary.

Totally agree. Much better answer. - 0074b507, Dec 18, 2011

Answer 3

Hello! You're right in that the subjunctive is used with indefinite / uncertain situations. So, for me, the key part (thanks MaryMcc for providing the daylink) is the heading at the top of the list:

"Las siguientes respuestas no tendrán ni correciones ni serán aceptadas:"

So, if the "inscriptions" in English aren't as they are in Spanish, then they won't be accepted. It's not sure that the answer will conform to that scenario, so they can use the subjunctive.

That being said, I would think the conditional structure of IF FUTURE, THEN PRESENT would work as well...

Answer 4

To give the context, this is in the black boxed section of the opening part of English word of the daylink text