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".
In the Tip it says that the above este etc can be used as demonstrative pronouns. This is not quite correct as demonstrative pronouns are éste ,ésta, They have a hyphen above the e . Where as esto is similar in both cases
Os sugiero que estéis alerta.
Should not "alerta" be "alertas" as we talk to "them" plural You?
I don't understand the difference between hace and hay when talking about the weather. Can anyone explain the difference to me?
When you click on 'discuss this' the explanation talks about past in general vs. specific time in the past, not much of a help to understand the ongoing action bit. For me it sounds a lot like repeated action/habit anyway.
Cheers, ALEX
I heard, 'los pueblos mas bonitos' but the given answer was 'del concurso'.
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".
Since this is a vocabulary listing of "Irregular verbs with a short imperative tú form" could the imperative form be added in brackets, since one can't tell the shortened versions from the verbs themselves. Just a thought. :)
Using El Pretérito Imerfecto in the Gabriel example above seems incorrect/confusing to me, also. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the imperfect here indicate a general inability to do something, like Gabriel just didn't know how to put the key in the keyhole (incidentally, the sentence should read "key in the keyhole", "keyS in the keyholeS", or "key in the keyholeS" if a single key fits two locks), which seems highly unlikely? It seems to me that El Pretérito Indefinido is more appropriate because: Gabriel didn't manage/succeed in putting the key in the keyhole, and we are referring to a specific moment in the past and the time when it happened is relevant.
"Ella ha roto con él pero ________ así él sigue insistiendo.
She broke up with him but even so he keeps trying.
The quiz answer is aun así. But why can’t it be aún así in the sense of todavía? She broke up with him but he still keeps trying.
Desde hace una semana solo estoy comiendo fruta.
Why is this wrong? I’ve only been eating fruit for a week
Find your Spanish level for FREE
And get your personalised Study Plan to improve it
Find your Spanish level