What time it is
I recently read "No estoy seguro de la hora que es," and I know that the meaning is "I'm not sure what time it is." Two questions:
Does this form sound more natural than "No estoy seguro de qué hora sea"?
Is the subjunctive not used in this form because the "es" here refers to the actual time, rather than a hypothetical time? (That is, I'm asking about why we don't say "No estoy seguro de la hora que sea.")
20 Answers
samdie said:
How about "I'll meet you when the movie gets out but I don' know what hour that will be."? Te encontraré cuando se termine la pelicula pero no sé a que hora será/sea. (or something else).
In Spain you can only say "...cuando termine la película" and "no sé a qué hora es", because you can't "declarar" that the movie is finished (it hasn't even started yet!), but you do "declaras" the question: ¿A qué hora es'".
How about "I'll meet you when the movie gets out but I don' know what hour that will be."?
Te encontraré cuando se termine la pelicula pero no sé a que hora será/sea. (or something else).
James Santiago said:
No estoy seguro de qué hora es
No estoy seguro de la hora que es
No estoy seguro de la hora
To me, and this is rather personal, the first and the third are the most common ones, especially the first one, but I bet I've heard the second one a few times from other natives (maybe even myself).
Strictly speaking, questions, such as "¿Qué hora es'", whether they are direct or indirect, are always"declaradas". Well, you are "declarando" with that question that you don't know what time it is, whether you say it that you are sure, or not. This semantic independence from the main sentence justifies the indicative. Notice how both sentences can be easily stated separately and independently:
¿Qué hora es? No estoy seguro.
Your sentence should have been in theory "No estoy seguro de qué hora es", because you "declaras" the question "¿Qué hora es'", regardless of that "No estoy seguro". Forget that useless rule about negating the verb forces the subjunctive, because it doesn't work all the time. It is like giving "floating rules" for objects (or rules for the subjunctive), and asking people to memorize that iron sinks, and wood doesn't. The rule will work until you get a see an iron ship floating (like the indicative used with a main verb negated) and ebony sinking. People then will ask: "Why does it float, if iron is supposed to sink, according to the rule'". The rule is about density (and "declaraciones"), not about memorizing endless lists of materials (and verbs and structures), but understanding why objects float.
Ignoring regional variations, you can't use the subjunctive in that sentence; it sounds horrible (at least in Spain).
However, there is a construction that has survived many centuries, and therefore doesn't follow the pattern found in modern Spanish: "No sé si...". This construction, and only with this verb followed by "si", is accepted in subjunctive despite the fact that what follows is always a declaration. Despite its academical acceptance, it won't be accepted by speakers of many countries, and you'll be corrected immediately.
Does this answer your question'
Does this answer your question'
It answers the second one, but not the first (with the subjunctive changed to indicative in my question). That is, does one form sound more natural than the other?
No estoy seguro de qué hora es
No estoy seguro de la hora que es
No estoy seguro de la hora
Thanks for what you've told me so far.
