Estoy muy confundida (otra vez) con el subjunctivo!

[Flexichick]

Hola a todos -

I'm so confused!

My question is about "dudar" and the subjunctive.

One of my Spanish teachers said that "Dudar + que = subjunctive" while "No dudar + que = indicative". The reasoning is that the first example conveys doubt, while the second conveys certainty.

My new(er) Spanish teacher says that dudar = subjunctive all the time.

I have tried researching this in books and online and found mixed messages.

Can anybody clarify this for me?

Muchas gracias :-)

[Jules]

Your original teacher is absolutely correct. I am amazed your new teacher disagrees.

A statement of belief e.g. creo que; no dudo que; is followed by the indicative.

I think I've found that consistently in all my reference books & I checked my notes of a recent class exercise where we had to decide between indicative / subjunctive - including: no dudar que...

[Damian Corrigan]

Look at this way:

The indicative is about the way something is, about reality, the subjunctive is about some something that is not real, something influenced by the the speaker.

So:

Es grande

Creo que es grande

No dudo que es grande
In all three cases, "es grande" means the same thing. This thing, in the read world, is big.

Es grande

No creo que sea grande

Dudo que sea grande.

In these examples, the meaning of the italics differs.
The speaker's part of the sentence (his doubting or his not believing) are important to the meaning of the part after the 'que'. So the subjunctive is needed.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. The subjunctive is a hard thing to crack. Read all the examples and ways of explaining that people give you - (as long as they aren't talking rubbish) absorb and believe, eventually it will all seep in and you'll get it. It's an osmosis effect, I've never seen the perfect explanation for it. If it existed, I wouldn't say it here, I'd be making a fortune out of it!!


Damian

[Jules]

Originally Posted by Damian Corrigan

eventually it will all seep in and you'll get it. It's an osmosis effect

Damien, you couldn't have summed it up better.

A year ago I'd never have thought it possible I'd understand the subjunctive rules. Its true about the osmosis effect ...by listening to lots of Spanish material (not just NIS)

[Flexichick]

Thanks Jules and Damian -

Both of my teachers are native speakers (the first from Guatemala and the current one from Costa Rica).

I was sure I did understand until my class last week. Phooey!

If anybody else has opinions or examples, please join in

[Acosta]

Originally Posted by Damian Corrigan

Look at this way:

The indicative is about the way something is, about reality, the subjunctive is about some something that is not real, something influenced by the the speaker.

So:

Es grande

Creo que es grande

No dudo que es grande
In all three cases, "es grande" means the same thing. This thing, in the read world, is big.

Es grande

No creo que sea grande

Dudo que sea grande.

In these examples, the meaning of the italics differs.
The speaker's part of the sentence (his doubting or his not believing) are important to the meaning of the part after the 'que'. So the subjunctive is needed.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. The subjunctive is a hard thing to crack. Read all the examples and ways of explaining that people give you - (as long as they aren't talking rubbish) absorb and believe, eventually it will all seep in and you'll get it. It's an osmosis effect, I've never seen the perfect explanation for it. If it existed, I wouldn't say it here, I'd be making a fortune out of it!!


Damian

Good Advice, definitely still work in progress for me. From my foggy memory of Spanish via university extension 2 years ago. (The subtleties are killers)


Hay tres conceptos

1. Mandados implicados

2. Emoción y Esperanza

3. Irrealidad y dudas