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Verbs Of Emotion - The Use Of The Present Subjunctive In Noun Clauses The subjunctive mood is used to express the speaker’s perception of reality. One way that it is used is to communicate emotions and feelings. It reflects the speaker’s attitude, bias, or reaction toward someone or something. The subjunctive mood is used in subjective situations whereas the indicative mood is used in objective situations. Verbs of emotion are used in sentences with the present tense of the subjunctive mood. This kind of sentence has an independent clause and a dependent noun clause. A dependent noun clause is a group of words that function as the subject or the object of the verb in the independent clause. Dependent noun clauses in Spanish are introduced by the conjunction que. There are 2 differences between the independent and dependent clauses. The first difference is that the subject in the independent clause is different from the subject in the dependent clause. The second difference is that the independent clause has a verb in the indicative mood while the dependent clause has a verb in the subjunctive mood. Tense refers to the time when an action takes place. The present tense of the subjunctive indicates an action that is occurs at the same time as the action in the independent clause. It also indicates an action that occurs in the future. Me alegro de que Rebeca y Juan estén comprometidos. (I’m glad that Rebeca and Juan are engaged.)
Independent Clause Indicative Mood Present Tense Subject – I
Dependent Noun Clause Subjunctive Mood Present tense Subject – Rebeca and Juan
que
Rebeca y Juan estén comprometidos.
Me alegro de
Me alegro de que Rebeca y Juan se casen mañana. (I’m glad that Rebeca and Juan are getting married tomorrow.) Independent Clause Indicative Mood Present Tense Subject – I Me alegro de
que
Dependent Noun Clause Subjunctive Mood Present Tense Indicates Future Time Subject – Rebeca and Juan Rebeca y Juan se casen mañana.
Here is a list of some verbs that express emotion. sentir – to feel sorry Rita siente que María no esté aquí. extrañar – to puzzle, to surprise, to be ¿No te extraña que Roberto no llame? strange tener miedo de – to be afraid ¿Tienes miedo de que el médico te dé una inyección? sorprenderse de - to be surprised El director se sorprende de que los actores no sepan bailar.
Free handout from http://sites.google.com/site/englishspanishhelpfulhandouts. Written by S. Watson. Photos: www.morguefile.com and Michelle Meiklejohn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Rita is sorry that María is not here. Isn’t it strange that Roberto doesn’t call? Are you afraid that the doctor will give you an injection? The director is surprised that the actors can’t dance.