Verb mood, "pinte" and "pinta"

Question

The following sentence is a caption I came across for a very obvious photo of a man illegally spray-painting a wall with graffiti:

"Es ilegal que el hombre pinte en la pared de este edificio"

I´m wondering:

1. Is "pinte" subjunctive or imperative here?
2. Why the indicative "pinta" wasn´t used since this seems like a straightforward, objective observation?

Thank you to anyone who helps out.

Answer 1

Of one thing I am sure, this is a case of the impersonal ser + adjective + que calling for the use of the subjunctive. It might be confusing since you would think it is actually fact that this is happening. But I think what they really mean is "it is illegal for the man to do this."

An easier way to get it, replace "illegal" with "prohibido."

Thank you. I went and looked up the terms you are using (e.g. "impersonal", "ser", "adjetive") and learned something. - Trieltor, May 15, 2013

Answer 2

Pinte is subjunctive - not imperative. No one is telling this man to paint on the wall.

This common construction with que will always have an indicative clause and a subjunctive clause. In this case it does not say the man paints on the wall, but it is ilegal (indicative) that the man paint on the wall (subjunctive in English, which is usually replaced by "to paint on the wall" because most English speakers don´t seem to know how to use subjunctive in their own language).

Yes, this type of sentence with 'que' is highly likely to be in the subjunctive.. - annierats, May 15, 2013

Answer 3

I believe it's subjunctive because the second part of the sentence is a "what if" kind of ending. It's illegal if anyone decides to paint on the wall.