Help me understand the subjunctive use in this sentence?

Question

I'm using an old textbook since January, basically reading it from start to finish. I was wondering why this sentence uses the subjunctive of "ser". The sentence is "Pero eso no quiere decir que vivir en una isla sea vivir en un paraiso"

So I translated this to mean "But this doesn't mean that to live on an island is to live in paradise", and I was wondering why 'sea' is used...is it because of "Pero eso?" Not really sure why. Thanks as always!

Answer 1

You are denying what follows the que. When you deny something contained in a que phrase, in order to not affirm (declare) it, you use subjunctive.

"Pero eso no quiere decir que (vivir en una isla) sea (vivir en un paraiso)"

Reference:

The reference covers no significa que and no quiere decir que.

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/no-significa-que-subjuntivo-vs-indicativo.142089/

El principio es correcto , con ambas frases se utiliza el subjuntivo , a no ser que se quiera dar seguridad a la afirmación

and

Estoy de acuerdo...el uso del subjuntivo está perfecto.

"no quiere decir que lo sepas todo"