Si sabe or si sepa??

Question

Hello,

I have a question about why the subjunctive was not used in this sentence....

"Vamos a ver si sabe algo más de Angel"

Am I missing something? Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

I'd say Kirk is too modest, as he's pretty good. But there is another kind of general rule you could blame this on. In general, you are not required to use the subjunctive after Si.

I don't understand fully why this is, but it is. Perhaps because it is more conditional that uncertain. Then, why Spanish doesn't require conditional, this gringo can't say. That too, perhaps just is.

Anyway, in general, after 'Si', you tend not to see subjunctive.

Gracias, mi amigo. Me siento muy humilde. - kirk1, Feb 10, 2013

You're welcome. (most of my) typos fixed. I've finally decided what is worse than me typing on a small phone screen. Me doing so in English when the phone is set to Spanish autocorrection. I think I had 12 types in 3 sentences. ARghhh$T^^^#$#$^ - rogspax, Feb 10, 2013

One thing I find kind of facinating is the way MS Word will recognize which language (in my case English or Spanish) is being used and change the proofing function accordingly. It does not do that real well within the same document however. - kirk1, Feb 10, 2013

Agreed Kirk. I found it odd, but them remembered that I too can identify Chinese, Russian and Japanese, but would have great difficulty correcting them. ;) - rogspax, Feb 10, 2013

Answer 2

Pretty good question I think. I am not all that advanced in Spanish but, I think the statement is correctly constructed because the main clause, "we are going to see if" does not introduce doubt (or any of the other conditions that trigger the subjunctiive like will and influence, emotion etc. and they all suggest that the speaker is saying that it is not for sure). They are going. That is stated as a positive. What they will find is another matter. I assume the Angel is a friend or at least an aquaintance and not a heavenly being.

By the way, please complete your profile and you will be more likely to get the best help from the best people on this forum.

Thank you, Kirk. That makes sense to me now. I guess I got confused because it seems like they don't know if they will "actually see" Angel so I thought the subjunctive should be used. And yes, Angel is a real person in this case! - kimmy5899, Feb 10, 2013

Answer 3

In a positive sentence, si is never followed by the subjunctive.

In a negative sentence it is followed by the subjunctive.

In past , hypothetical situations si can be followed by the subjunctive, I forgot to mention that, - annierats, Feb 10, 2013

Thanks for the votes, it's a simple but useful rule! - annierats, Feb 10, 2013

Answer 4

The sentence is correct because si is never followed by the present subjunctive.

There are three main types of si clauses:

1.First conditional: Likely situations (present + present, future, or imperative)
2.Second conditional: Unlikely situations (imperfect subjunctive + conditional)
3.Third conditional: Impossible situations (pluperfect subjunctive + pluperfect subjunctive or conditional perfect)

That's just an extract from this page:

http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/siclauses.html

The page contains all the details and even has a quiz.

Suerte!

Answer 5

never mind

;) - rogspax, Feb 10, 2013

Answer 6

Lol - these are all good answers