The use of the subjunctive in noun clauses in Spanish

¡WEIRDO!

We use the subjunctive in noun clauses which are governed by WEIRDO verbs:

Wishing:		e.g., querer (to want), desear (to desire), esperar (to hope)
		Espero que vengas a mi fiesta. (I home you come to my party.)
Emotion:		e.g., alegrarse de (to be/get happy), sentir (to regret/feel sorry)
		Me alegro de que estés bien. (I'm glad you're okay.)
Influence:		e.g., insistir en (to insist (on)), mandar (to command/order)
		Insisten en que yo escriba el informe. (They insist that I wite the report.)
Requesting:		e.g., pedir (to ask, to request), rogar (to beg)
		Ella pide que vayamos con ella al concierto. (She's asking us to go with her to the concert.)
Doubt:		e.g., dudar (to doubt), negar (to deny)
		Dudamos que ustedes puedan comer toda la pizza. (We doubt you can eat the whole pizza.)
Ojalá		(I hope, I wish)
		Ojalá que vuelvas pronto. (I hope you come back soon.)

(In contrast, if the governing verb is one of reporting, affirmation, truth, knowledge, or certainty, we use the indicative in the dependent clause:  Yo sé/creo/digo que tú eres maravilloso.)

Fred Jehle jehle@ipfw.edu [Home]
Indiana U.-Purdue U. Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499
Tel.: 219 481-6633
URL: URL: http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/weirdo.htm