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".
I keep tripping up on this! Asked to choose correct answers in a multiple choice, I chose as follows:
It takes 10 minutes to paint it = Se tarda..., Se tardaron... and Tarda...
Tarda was marked as incorrect. However, it seems to me that it has some legitimacy. Thing is, there's no indication what 'it' actually is, so it could in fact be the subject of the sentence! That might seem odd, but perhaps if you were to think of 'it' being a train in the sentence '(el tren) Tarda dos horas en llegar a Madrid' it might make a bit more sense - especially if this was said as a reply and the subject was already established.
If the question gave a hint like 'form a passive' or 'we don't know who or what the subject is', that would leave little doubt. But as is, it not entirely clear.
Hi I have a question. For the phrase "and with sea views," why is it "y con vistas al mar", rather than "y con vistas del mar"?
Estamos a los segundos de las campanadas de fin de año.
We are just a few seconds after the bells of the end of the year.
Estamos a unos segundos de las campanadas de fin de año.
We are just a few seconds before the bells of the end of the year.
This seems like a very basic lesson, I was surprised to find this in the B1 lesson.
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".
Estoy wondering que es la differencia entre Español spoken ayer than in Latin American. I know “ll” is a hard L ( ama-re-lia) instead of a soft double LL as used in la palabra “amarillo” in Latin America. What are some other differences?
Does it have to be a specific duration with desde hace? Or could we say:
No visito desde hace mucho tiempo un pueblo tan bonito que este
And would it be incorrect to say:
Ha pasado mucho tiempo desde que visité un pueblo tan bonito que este.
...or is it just another way of saying the same thing?
Could I say "era" instead of "fue" as it is a part of description?
In the example:
Nuestra ayuda está dirigida a jóvenes sin empleo. Estas son personas que han acabado sus estudios y no han encontrado trabajo.
why is it "Estas" and not "Estos"? Doesn't this pronoun need to agree with "jóvenes" rather than "personas"?
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