Different use of subjunctive

Question

I was having a conversation with a friend in Spanish (he's a native speaker), and I realized that he said "es como que yo te diga."

Why is the subjunctive used here? Why wouldn't it just be: es como que yo te digo..?

Answer 1

You can't use the indicative on account of the construction of the utterance.

Saying es como shows uncertainty (like giving an example of something that doesn't occur yet), that's why you need the subjunctive. Compare:

1. Es como que yo te digo esto. (= fact)
2. Es como que yo te diga esto. (= but I don't say it.)

You explained that better than I did. Thanks - margarita1943, Oct 8, 2016

Answer 2

I am just an intermediate Spanish speaker, but it makes sense to me. If you translate it to English : It is how I may say it to you - then it sounds to me that it should be in the subjunctive. Could be wrong though!

Hi Margarita, good to see you back again. How have you been traveling ? - ray76, Oct 8, 2016

Hi Ray. I've been in the Uk for a few months, now back in the Canary Islands - but have been really busy - in fact - he estado a tope! - margarita1943, Oct 8, 2016

Answer 3

I suppose "es como que yo te diga" could be used, but this is a hypothetical situation, so the best subjunctive verbiage would be: es como si yo te dijera ......