Para + Infinitive with the same subject / Using "Ojalá" with the Imperfect subjunctive/ Maybe two typos?

DavidC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Para + Infinitive with the same subject / Using "Ojalá" with the Imperfect subjunctive/ Maybe two typos?

1. Instead of "para que seamos más felices", could we also say "para ser más felices"? - because the subject is the same in the two clauses?


2. With "Ojalá", you point us towards the lesson Using ojalá + the present subjunctive to express hope (El Presente de Subjuntivo) - which illustrates the use of the *present* subjunctive (when expressing a *future* idea). However, perhaps it would be worth emphasising that in this particular writing exercise ("Carmen"), the *imperfect* subjunctive has to be utilised because the speaker is not really referring to the future?


3. You give "al cual que podemos transformar con los pensamientos" as a possible answer, but should the "que" not be removed? - (or if it is permissible, then you should really mention that in the lesson Using preposition a and de + el que, la que, los que, las que = to/of/from/about which/who (relative pronouns) ).


4. (Something very trivial !) > 'Nuestro' has lost its "r" in the Kviziq answer given as "Todos podemos cambiar nuesto modo de pensar".


Asked 3 years ago
InmaKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hola David

I love your very clear and structured messages, easy to follow and understand : )

1. "para que seamos más felices"

Yes, you can use para + infinitive as you are suggesting. In fact, we say in the lesson that if we have the same subject in both clauses (this is the case) we need to use para + infinitive. I looked into the reason why we have actually used para que + subjunctive here and it seems that when we use "poder" in the para que clause or a similar verb we often use the para que + subjunctive structure despite having the same subject. Now, you can see that our sentence is not using "poder" but you could easily say: "para que podamos ser más felices"; it is as if this was implicit in "para que seamos". That, in my opinion, can be the reason behind this flexibility here. 

2. Ojalá + present subj/imperfect subj

This is linked to this lesson where we only explain the cases with ojalá + present subjunctive, so this is the wrong tagging as what we are using is the imperfect subjunctive. There is no lesson about this, so I'll get on with it as soon as possible. But meanwhile, for your information, when using ojalá with the imperfect subjunctive we are still referring to the future. The difference is that the imperfect subjunctive is going to imply extra uncertainty about what one wishes, i.e. seen as less probable.

3. al cual que... is indeed a typo - you can't use those together - so that's already been corrected.

4. The typo "nuesto" has also been corrected.

Muchas gracias.

I hope this helps. 

Un saludo

Inma

Para + Infinitive with the same subject / Using "Ojalá" with the Imperfect subjunctive/ Maybe two typos?

1. Instead of "para que seamos más felices", could we also say "para ser más felices"? - because the subject is the same in the two clauses?


2. With "Ojalá", you point us towards the lesson Using ojalá + the present subjunctive to express hope (El Presente de Subjuntivo) - which illustrates the use of the *present* subjunctive (when expressing a *future* idea). However, perhaps it would be worth emphasising that in this particular writing exercise ("Carmen"), the *imperfect* subjunctive has to be utilised because the speaker is not really referring to the future?


3. You give "al cual que podemos transformar con los pensamientos" as a possible answer, but should the "que" not be removed? - (or if it is permissible, then you should really mention that in the lesson Using preposition a and de + el que, la que, los que, las que = to/of/from/about which/who (relative pronouns) ).


4. (Something very trivial !) > 'Nuestro' has lost its "r" in the Kviziq answer given as "Todos podemos cambiar nuesto modo de pensar".


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