Choosing "sabe" instead of "sepa"?

Question

In this question: "¿Estás seguro que Jorge no sabe tu nombre'" Why is the present tense used, I thought the subjunctive was required when expressing doubt or uncertainty'

Answer 1

thanks guys, I missed that when I retyped the question

Answer 2

By the way, the question is missing a preposition: ¿Estás seguro de que Jorge no sabe tu nombre'

I knew something was missing! Doh!

Answer 3

Subjunctive can express doubt or uncertainty, but you can express this without subjunctive either, so don't expect all doubts or uncertainties to be expressed in subjunctive, or all subjunctive forms to express doubts and uncertainties... because it only works often, not always.

In questions, the predicate is normally declared as a question; that's why indicative is required: ¿Jorque no sabe tu nombre? ¿Estás seguro?

By the way, the question is missing a preposition: ¿Estás seguro de que Jorge no sabe tu nombre'

Answer 4

Thanks James!

James Santiago said:

Even though it's a question, it is asking about certainty, so the indicative is used. If it were a negative sentence, the subjunctive would be used. "No estoy seguro que Jorge sepa tu nombre." This is because the idea is now uncertain.

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Answer 5

Even though it's a question, it is asking about certainty, so the indicative is used. If it were a negative sentence, the subjunctive would be used. "No estoy seguro que Jorge sepa tu nombre." This is because the idea is now uncertain.