confiamos en que no haya . . .

Question

Por eso en estos momentos nosotros estamos muy alertas, estamos en las calles y confiamos en que no haya ninguna violencia.

This is a sentence from one of the articles (old, from 2002) in the BBC grammar practice section.

You probably already know what I'm going to ask. Why is the subjunctive used here? Does confiar always take the subjunctive? I tried turning the sentence around, as Lazarus suggests.

We trust that there will not be any violence.
There will not be any violence, we trust.

Answer 1

látigo said:

Can adverbs now have gender and number agreement'''?
No. Hence the argument about whether something is an adjective or an adverb.

Answer 2

Can adverbs now have gender and number agreement'''?

samdie said:

Natasha said:

I maintain it is an adjective here.

AKA a "predicate adjective".

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Answer 3

Natasha said:

I maintain it is an adjective here.
AKA a "predicate adjective".

Answer 4

"Confiamos en que no hay violencia." Me suena mejor el empleo del futuro- no habrá violencia. Verdaderamente prefiero el subjuntivo- haya .

Heidita said:

James Santiago said:

So, what do others say? Is "confiamos en que no hay" impossible in this sentence (as opposed to just unlikely)?

I mean, James, impossible not...but certainly extremely unusual. Not in the sentences given by you though. Sound perfectly natural.Látigo, ¿te suena natural "confiamos en que hay violencia" ? Pues a mí no.También es cierto qeu acabo de decir"estamos alertos" así que no hay que hacerme mucho caso hoy...jejeBueno, on second thoughts, no hay que hacerme mucho caso nunca. (wink, wink)

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Answer 5

It´s not used as an adverb in that sentence, though. If it were an adverb it would not change to agree with the subject. In other words, it would just be alerta, not alertas. I maintain it is an adjective here.

James Santiago said:

Natasha, you yourself posted this:

1. adv. m. Con vigilancia y atención. Estar, andar, vivir, poner alerta.

You can see that it is classified in Spanish as an adverb after estar.

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Answer 6

Te hacemos mucho caso, y si no hubieras escrito , ¡no tendríamos esta discusión tan interesante! Mucho más interesante que el trabajo, ja ja.

Heidita said:

James Santiago said:

So, what do others say? Is "confiamos en que no hay" impossible in this sentence (as opposed to just unlikely)?

I mean, James, impossible not...but certainly extremely unusual. Not in the sentences given by you though. Sound perfectly natural.

Látigo, ¿te suena natural "confiamos en que hay violencia" ? Pues a mí no.

También es cierto qeu acabo de decir"estamos alertos" así que no hay que hacerme mucho caso hoy...jeje

Bueno, on second thoughts, no hay que hacerme mucho caso nunca. (wink, wink)

>

Answer 7

Natasha, you yourself posted this:

1. adv. m. Con vigilancia y atención. Estar, andar, vivir, poner alerta.

You can see that it is classified in Spanish as an adverb after estar.

Answer 8

And the oracle at Google says:

estamos alertas - 7100 hits
estamos alertos - 24 hits

Answer 9

James Santiago said:

So, what do others say? Is "confiamos en que no hay" impossible in this sentence (as opposed to just unlikely)?

I mean, James, impossible not...but certainly extremely unusual. Not in the sentences given by you though. Sound perfectly natural.

Látigo, ¿te suena natural "confiamos en que hay violencia" ? Pues a mí no.

También es cierto qeu acabo de decir"estamos alertos" así que no hay que hacerme mucho caso hoy...jeje

Bueno, on second thoughts, no hay que hacerme mucho caso nunca. (wink, wink)

Answer 10

Well, I'll explain it for English, and leave someone else to declare whether the argument applies in Spanish.

be is a linking verb and any modifier which follows it is an adjective modifying the subject.

I am alert. alert is an adjective modifying I. It is NOT an adverb modifying am.

(I was made to diagram sentences in high school. Believe me, if you put alert down on a slanty line as a modifier of am, you would get it wrong.)

James Santiago said:

Huh? An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, and that is what alertas is doing here. It is modifying the verb estar. Estamos. ¿Cómo estamos? Estamos alertas.

My dictionary gives this under the heading "alerta": I. adv., alertly, vigilantly; estar alerta, to be on the alert.

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Answer 11

Huh? An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, and that is what alertas is doing here. It is modifying the verb estar. Estamos. ¿Cómo estamos? Estamos alertas.

My dictionary gives this under the heading "alerta": I. adv., alertly, vigilantly; estar alerta, to be on the alert.

Answer 12

Pues no sé en qué estaba pensando....vaya chorrada.

Answer 13

It can't be an adverb when it follows estamos. The RAE dictionary gives this:

alerta.
(Del it. all'erta).
1. adj. p. us. Atento, vigilante. Espíritus alertas.
2. f. Situación de vigilancia o atención.
3. adv. m. Con vigilancia y atención. Estar, andar, vivir, poner alerta.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

which leads me to believe that the original sentence in the article was correct.

James Santiago said:

Heidita said:

Por eso en estos momentos nosotros estamos muy alertos

My dictionary says that the adverbial form is alerta, so it must be estar alerta in this case, meaning "to be on the alert."

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Answer 14

Heidita said:

Por eso en estos momentos nosotros estamos muy alertos

My dictionary says that the adverbial form is alerta, so it must be estar alerta in this case, meaning "to be on the alert."

Answer 15

Wow, Látigo, you replied to my question before I even posted it!