subjunctive when the subject of both clauses is the same

Question

As I understand it, there is a rule that says that when the subject of the main clause and the dependent clause is the same, the clause is replaced by the infinitive. So, for example, the translation for 'Carlos is going to study for his exam before playing (or before he plays) tennis' would be 'Carlos estudiará para su examen antes de jugar tenis.' While I understand why the infinitive 'jugar' is used here (i.e., Carlos is the subject of both the main clause and the dependent clause), would it be wrong to say ' Carlos estudiará para su examen antes de que juegue tenis'? As another example, if I want to say 'I'll call them when I get to the airport' is it correct to say either 'Los llamaré al llegar al aeropuerto' or 'Los llamaré cuando llegue al aeropuerto'?

Answer 1

'Carlos estudiará para su examen antes de jugar tenis.' This is correct as it stands. The other way: Carlos estudiará para su examen antes de que "juegue" would be incorrect.

However turning it around: i.e. Antes de que juegue al tenis Carlos estudiará para su exámen." in this case the subjunctive trigger is "Antes de que"

Likewise your second sentence could be turned around to say: "Cuando llegue al aeropuerto los llamaré." It would be hard NOT to use the subjunctive here because of starting off with "cuando" and an activity that has not yet happened.

So I'm going to state that the use of the subjunctive after "cuando" or "antes de que" when they start off the sentence is proper, because THAT's the subjunctive trigger.

dani, pls, get that book written, I can´t wait. - annierats, Feb 14, 2016

Answer 2

Daniela, Thank you for your input. So it seems that, despite the rule about the subject being the same in both clauses, it is sometimes takes a little doing to avoid using the subjuntive rather than the infinitive. As I think about this more, other examples come to mind. For instance, let's suppose I went to a party where I saw someone I hadn't seen for a long time. Could I say 'Me alegro que (yo) haya venido' and 'Me alegro que (yo) lo haya visto' ? If not, how do I say it? Me alegro haber venido? Me alegro haberlo visto? I'm just making wild guesses.

Me alegro de haber venido. Me alegro de haberte visto. These are grammatically correct, but I would probably say, "Qué contenta estoy de estar aquí!" amd "¡Cuánto me alegro de verte! You can translate word for word from English to Spanish and sound very - Daniela2041, Feb 14, 2016

non-native or do it the way native speakers do. - Daniela2041, Feb 14, 2016