Why subjunctive!?

AlanC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why subjunctive!?

In the example:

"Los que hayan reservado con antelación pueden ir a esa ventanilla"

why is it 'hayan' and not 'han'?

Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq team member

Hola Alan

You can use both, subjunctive and indicative.

With subjunctive, "Los que hayan reservado con antelación pueden ir a esa ventanilla", the speaker doesn't know who the people who booked in advance are, therefore the subjunctive is used. However, with indicative, "Los que han reservado con antelación pueden ir a esa ventanilla", it is as if the speaker has seen a list of those people so he knows who they are. 

A "flexible" translation of the first one would probably be "If you've booked in advance please go to that desk".

Saludos

AlanC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thanks, that's clearer.

Why subjunctive!?

In the example:

"Los que hayan reservado con antelación pueden ir a esa ventanilla"

why is it 'hayan' and not 'han'?

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