Why Not the Subjunctive?

Question

In Word of the day for 12/17/15, the first sentence given for agradar: "No te puedes imaginar cómo me agrada salir a bailar contigo, mi amor.", would seem to be a textbook example for using the subjunctive agrade here. Why was agrada chosen? Thanks in advance.

Good question, I am wondering the same thing. I hope someone answers!! Subjunctive tense is so confusing to me sometimes. - 00353cbe, Dec 17, 2015

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Dec 18, 2015

I wondered and thought that it was in order to use the word of the day in this way , though there are better words to use. - ray76, Dec 18, 2015

Answer 1

There have been many good answers given here regarding why the subjunctive is not needed. It's easier to see however, if you switch the word order around thus:

"¡Cómo me agrada salir a bailar contigo, mi amor, no te puedes imaginar!

How (much) it pleases me to go out dancing with you, darling, you can't imagine!

Not one bit of doubt here.

Good restructure to explain. - rogspax, Dec 18, 2015

Once again you make the seemingly complex sound simple. Gracias Daniela. - jellonz, Dec 18, 2015

Answer 2

rhrisch:

Would you please translate that to English?

I mean the sentence "No te puedes imaginar cómo me agrada salir a bailar contigo, mi amor."

Maybe "You can't imagine how it pleases me to go out dancing with you, my love." - jellonz, Dec 17, 2015

Ok. Exactly it. No subjunctive, no right? - chileno, Dec 18, 2015

I get you. Gracias Chileno. - jellonz, Dec 18, 2015

Answer 3

"No te puedes imaginar cómo ....." is just an expression that is nothing more than an injection of emotion, so it doesn´t affect the following clause. There is nothing in doubt here.

A clear expression of doubt: No creo que puedas imaginar cómo me agrada.........

So called "cues" and "triggers" confuse those who study the language using these things, rather than relying on simple knowledge of when subjunctive should be used. There are many times when we have the choice between subjunctive and indicative as well, so it´s best to ask yourself if subjunctive is necessary or if you want to use it for the nuance you wish to create. After a while you will recognize certain word orders where you will see subjunctive used, but this is not an automatic usage but simply how we structure sentences when we want to use subjunctive.

Yep, you are 100% right Julian. The only problem is that many of us learning Spanish don't have that simple knowledge of when the subjunctive should be used, which is why we try to identify cues :) - jellonz, Dec 18, 2015

Answer 4

Me agrada salir a bailar contigo / Salir a bailar contigo me agrada.

Either way you form this phrase it is a simple statement of fact made in present tense. There is no reason to use subjunctive.

:) - FELIZ77, Dec 17, 2015

But isn't "No imaginarse" a cue for the subjunctive? - jellonz, Dec 17, 2015

Oh, but this is "No te *puedes* imaginar" ... Is that the difference? "No imaginarse" expresses doubt, whereas "No te puedes imaginar" expresses certainty? - jellonz, Dec 17, 2015

Answer 5

I think that "No te puedes imaginar" is not a cue for the subjunctive because it is actually expressing a certainty rather than a doubt:

No te puedes imaginar = You can't imagine = There is no way you can imagine = Fact and indicative.

"No te imaginas" on the other hand may trigger the subjunctive because it could express doubt:

No te imaginas = You don't imagine = You don't really think (same as English) = Doubt and subjunctive.

Is that right Spanish speakers?

Thank you Jellonz -- that is what was throwing me off; it sounds liek "cue" for subjunctive but they way you explain it - makes sense that it isn't. - 00353cbe, Dec 17, 2015

No worries Jill. I'd like a Spanish speaker to confirm, but it seems right in my head :) - jellonz, Dec 17, 2015

Answer 6

On page 264 of the 5th edition of "A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish" by Butt and Benjamin they say "The rules given in this section do not refer to question-words like cuándo, dónde cómo, which are not subordinating conjunctions and therefore take the indicative in both direct and indirect questions".

The rules for using the subjunctive seem to have more to do with syntax than semantics (meaning) so some of the answers to my question, which are given above, may be on the wrong track. The trouble I have is to remember all those syntax rules. The desire to give semantic explanations, based on communicating certainty or emotion, for why the subjunctive is used, is strong because they seem simpler than the syntax rules, but I am afraid they are far from foolproof.