Using the subjunctive for good will

Question

I told a Mexican, "voy a jugar baloncesto." The Mexican replied, "te ganes". Through context, I assumed that meant "I hope you win". Why did the Mexican use the subjunctive in this case? I've never heard the subjunctive used this way.

*que* ganes. - chileno, Sep 20, 2013

My mexican friends seem to prefer "basquetbol". May be it's regional - HackerKing, Sep 21, 2013

Answer 1

In Spanish "que + [verb]" is used to mean "may ______".

So: "May the force be with you" = "Que la fuerza te acompañe"

I think you may have misheard "que" for "te"

Answer 2

I hope (that) you win.

We would say the same here -" well i hope you win mate " but there will be an inflexion in the voice which may cast doubt upon the outcome , we tend to knock each other jokingly . - ray76, Sep 20, 2013

The subjunctive in English. :) - chileno, Sep 20, 2013

Exactly Chileno! And yes Ray, I think we do that a lot more in English than Spanish. - rogspax, Sep 20, 2013

In Spanish, the inflection of the voice is as important as it is in English. ;) - chileno, Sep 20, 2013

Answer 3

Both of the explanations before are of course just right.

Another take.

In Spanish, you will begin to here a lot of phrases that start with ¨Que regular-verb subjunctive blah blah blah...¨

They generally fall not so much under doubt (though that may exist too) but rather emotion.

¨verb-of-emotion que subjunctive blah blah blah...¨ is really shorthand for

¨deseo que tengas blah blah blah...¨ (buen día)

¨espero que sientas blah blah blah...¨ (mejor pronto)

¨necesito que ¨hagas¨ blah blah blah...: (tu tarea)

Did I mishear him say "te" instead of "que"? - tokyotech, Sep 20, 2013

Yes. - chileno, Sep 20, 2013

good catch - rogspax, Sep 20, 2013

thanks (que), now it makes sense to me. - 0095ca4c, Sep 20, 2013

I didn´t think much about it, and assumed it was some form of ganarse that I wasn´t fully up to speed with, and was a shorted version of that mandato ¨que te ganas¨. My assumptions are not uniformly good. Grrrr. - rogspax, Sep 20, 2013

Answer 4

You've received lots of good answers to your question but just as a side point ...

I told a Mexican, "voy a jugar baloncesto.

It should be: Voy a jugar al baloncesto

Answer 5

Whether you win or not is an unknown, and for certain is out of the control of your Mexican friend. Sounds normal....