Using subjuntivo in question fomat.

Question

Hi,

I am a bit confused on subjuntivo in question format.

Example: "¿Esperarán ustedes a Pedro?" and "¿Pasaréis por Sevilla?"

What I would like to know is how do you know if it is supposed to be asking ¨Will" or "Do" or is will and do the same thing?

¿Will you all wait for Pedro?" or "Do you all wait for Pedro?" and isn't "a" supposed to men "to" so it is saying "Do you all wait to Pedro?".

For the second one would it be "Will you all pass through Sevilla?" or "Do you all pas through Sevilla?"

I find questions to be really confussing for me. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Nash4343

.. a Pedro.. is the personal 'a '. It has nothing to do with where you're going. - annierats, Apr 27, 2012

I am sorry but what do you mean by a personal "a"? - nash4343, Apr 28, 2012

Nas, this is a difficulty. I do it wrong all the time. Spanish very often has an 'a' when it's to do with a person. - annierats, Apr 30, 2012

I'll se if I can find a good explanation, I'm too confused to explain it, myself. - annierats, Apr 30, 2012

I put a link below, to an explanation, I hope that helps. - annierats, Apr 30, 2012

Answer 1

Since these questions are in the future tense, the implacation is that this hasn't happened yet so they transalte to "will" ("will you pass?" hypothetical action in the future vs "do you pass" generalization in the present). The tense is what tells you whether it is "will" or "do". For "do", it would be "¿esperan ustedes a Pedro?" and "¿Pasáis por Sevilla?". As far as "a" meaning "to", it does mean "to" but it can also mean "for" and occasionaly, "at". I hope that helps! ~Ave

Thank you avestruzless! This helps. - nash4343, Apr 27, 2012

Answer 2

There is no subjunctive in your examples.Don't use the subjunctive when you want to express a future action.It is true that the future action hasnot happened yet, but, that doesn' t mean that it is hypothetical.If all the future actions had been hypothetical,then the future indicative wouldn't have been. A future action is expressed by the present tenses and the future tense of the indicative which expresses reals actions

No hay subjunctivo en tus ejemplo.No uses el subjuntivo . cuando quieres exprimar una acción futura.Es verdad que la acción futura no haya pasado,pero,esto no semnifica que es hipotética Si todas las acciones futuras hubieran sido hipotéticas,entonces el indicativo futuro no habría sido Una accion presente se exprima por los tiempos presentes y el tiempo futuro del indicativo que exprima acciones reales.

Thank you for the response. - nash4343, May 7, 2012

Answer 3

The personal 'a' Nas, I have tried to find an expanation : Here is a good reference, nash1] http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/116131/personal-a

It also applies to a person's pets, I think. No tengo tiempo para escribir más ahora, tengo que sacar a mi perro.

Oh dear, I can never make links that work.. - annierats, Apr 30, 2012

Thank you so much for the link. It was very helpful. - nash4343, May 7, 2012

I'm glad, Nash. - annierats, May 7, 2012