Why does 'Que' come after 'Quiero'?
Quiero que los estudiantes se den cuenta de lo bello que son aquellos pasajes.
This means, 'I want the students to realise how beautiful those passages are."
Why is there a 'Que' right after the verb 'Quiero'? Why is it not just 'Quiero', instead of 'Quiero que?' Sorry if this has been answered before, I'm just a bit confused. Thanks for any help!
2 Answers
Most verbs in Spanish require that a subject change be marked with a new phrase that starts with que and contains a conjugated verb. Querer is generally done that way:
Quiero que los estudiantes se den cuenta de lo bello que son aquellos pasajes.
I want that the students realise how beautiful those passages are.
Quiero hacerlo. I want to do it. When a infinitive follows querer, it usually implies that the verb also pertains to the subject of querer.
There are some in Spanish that do not require this, and allow an infinitive with a subject change.
Me permite usar su coche. He allows me to use his car.
This could also be written:
Me permite que use su coche. He allows that I use his car.
You just have to get used to which verbs it is normal to do this with and which not, it will not always be same as English.
Quiero que = I want that
So the sentence becomes:
I want that the students realise how beautiful those passages are.
