"Darse cuenta que..."

Question

I was reading the lyrics to a song I'd listened to in Spanish, and it said "no te das cuenta que...", but as far as I am aware, the phrase should be "no te das cuenta de...". Why does the song say "cuenta que..."? Is it used differently than the one with "de", is it wrong, or is it an example of queísmo?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

For this type of sentence it comes down to the difference between a 'relative pronoun' and a 'conjunction.

Conjunctions = words that join two parts of a sentence.

eg: de que

De repente me di cuenta de que no podía moverme.

Suddenly I realized that I couldn't move.

Se dio cuenta de que algo dramático estaba ocurriendo.

He realized that something dramatic was happening.

A relative pronoun "relates" a subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence.

eg: que

Tengo el libro que buscas. I have the book (that/which) you're looking for

Tip for the day: 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.

NB: Que (that) can be used as a conjunction after a verb but de que (that) is normally used as a subordinating conjunction following a noun.

Having said all of the above you then need to take into account queísmo, which this is likely a case of, that is the use of que when, technically, the correct form would be de que, en que, con que, etc. This is quite common in informal Spanish but you'll rarely come across it in formal or written Spanish. Then you can have the opposite happen and this is called dequeísmo which is when de que is used instead of just que.

Answer 2

I don't think Maxwell is asking the difference between "de" and "de que".

Normally to realize, comprehend or to become aware of is translated as "darse cuenta de". Maxwell wants to know why the song uses "darse cuenta que". This may be evident if we knew the following lines from the song.

Hey Eddy, I was explaining about 'que' and 'de que' to show that it should always be 'de que' after darse cuenta but as I pointed out with the note about queísmo it is gramatically incorrect but fairly common and that's probably what's happened here. . - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 23, 2012

We need more song! - annierats, Sep 23, 2012

I wish I could give more, but in the song, the person saying this gets cut off before he can finish - Maxwell_R, Sep 23, 2012

Answer 3

I think this confusion stems from a phenomenon called "dequeísmo" in the Spanish language, which is often pointed out as a mistake. It means that people tend to say de que when they should only say que. Example:

Me ha dicho de que vendría más tarde (incorrect) — Me ha dicho que vendría más tarde (correct)

But to realize in Spanish is expressed as "Darse cuenta de". So, in Maxwell's question he is right in assuming it should have been "No te das cuenta de (que)".

I agree...it's a fixed phrase. - --Mariana--, Sep 23, 2012

or maybe the other way round? jqueísmo where the person used 'que' when it should have been 'de que'? - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 24, 2012

Answer 4

I'd wondered that before as well, and it kind of confused me but then I realized that it's the same thing and while one may be more proper than the other (de que over just que), they are effectually both correct...at least, I'm pretty sure...they'd probably sound both correct to a native ear. I think it's like the difference between saying "my friend told me that you were coming" and "my friend told me you were coming." A native speaker could probably come along and give a better-informed explanation, but that's my two cents' worth.