Aunque + subjunctive in the sense "Even though ..."
As Inma says, sometimes it is quite difficult to draw a 'sharp line' between occasions when we should, and when we should not use the subjunctive.
My grammar book [by Butt & Benjamin] offers a simple and interesting guideline to help decide which would be best in the context of "aunque, referring to present [and also past] events". As is to be expected, expressing something in the subjunctive "strengthens the concession". Thus, they suggest that if you can translate it as "even though ...", then the subjunctive will be more appropriate:
"Even though you don't like films, you will like this one" >
"Aunque no te gusten las películas, ésta te va a gustar".
The Butt & Benjamin "rule" is of course quite consistent here with the concept of "shared information which is known both by the speaker and by the listener".
Butt & Benjamin cite another example [quoting a Peruvian Scholar]:
"I'll never blame Octavia, even though I may have tried to sometimes" >
"Jamás culparé a Octavia, aunque lo haya intentado alguna vez".
What is the origin of the curious fact that certain Spanish words that end in "-a" and can refer to both male and female persons, never developed an "-o" ending to denote a male individual specifically? For example:
electricista, dentista, recepcionista.
entender a su hijo
entender su pinto de vista
in english we don't use any preposition with the verb 'understasnd'
but why in spanish, do we use preposition 'a' sometimes?
As Inma says, sometimes it is quite difficult to draw a 'sharp line' between occasions when we should, and when we should not use the subjunctive.
My grammar book [by Butt & Benjamin] offers a simple and interesting guideline to help decide which would be best in the context of "aunque, referring to present [and also past] events". As is to be expected, expressing something in the subjunctive "strengthens the concession". Thus, they suggest that if you can translate it as "even though ...", then the subjunctive will be more appropriate:
"Even though you don't like films, you will like this one" >
"Aunque no te gusten las películas, ésta te va a gustar".
The Butt & Benjamin "rule" is of course quite consistent here with the concept of "shared information which is known both by the speaker and by the listener".
Butt & Benjamin cite another example [quoting a Peruvian Scholar]:
"I'll never blame Octavia, even though I may have tried to sometimes" >
"Jamás culparé a Octavia, aunque lo haya intentado alguna vez".
Another question from the quiz: "Las mamás quieren darles de mamar a sus bebés en el parque". In Spanish as spoken in Spain, wouldn't it be more common to use madres instead of mamás? Natives told me not to overuse mamá, papá, abuelito, mis papás etc. because they said it would sound childish.
Si yo quisiera decir "the more people i meet, the happier i will be", ¿sería "Cuanta más gente conozca yo, más feliz seré", o "Cuanta más gente a la que conozca yo, más feliz seré?
The lesson was unclear on whether this sentence structure is colloquial, formal or written only. Kindly elaborate. Regards
I don’t understand why “mira” is made to match with “tú” and “mire” with “Usted”. Shouldn’t “Usted” match both?
Una dicción muy clara. Un audio excelente y un relato que chido.
Referring to suggested title add-on, I should have said cuando plus past tenses in the subjunctive.
Shirley.
Find your Spanish level for FREE
Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard
Find your Spanish level