Groups - I'm not sure i'm not wrong
The other day i was wandering round the supermarket mumbling to myself in spanish (as you do) when i noticed the unilever spread called I cant believe its not butter and idly translated this into spanish (as you do) and got
"no puedo creer que no sea mantequilla"
I was reasoning that "i cant believe" takes the subjunctive in the same way as "i dont believe...." and that presumably shakespere would have spread "I cant believe that it be not butter" on his toast.
Βut then I had a wobble and wondered whether the "not" in the dependent?? clause would put us back in the indicative again.
"I cant believe that it's not butter" has two negative clauses. Im currently going with the theory that i cant/dont believe will always take the subjunctive, even when you "cant believe" something that "isnt"
Estoy seguro que estan aqui
no estoy seguro que no esten aqui
Which granted, sounds a bit awkward although it genuinely could be a guarded reply to the question.. so you are sure that they are not here right?.
I doubt that this comes up very often though spookily it did on the tele last night when one of the characters came out with
"I dont have to tell you how important it is that it not be shut down."
when english uses the subjunctive no puedo creer que español no lo use, el subjuntivo.
does anyone know if this is correct?
in the Group El Subjuntivo .
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Hey donperigo,
Of course I could be all wet here but I think you need to forget about the two negatives making a positive stuff. If the main clause expresses doubt or disbelief, the subordinate clause is going to be in the subjunctive. Punto.
By the way, there's another way to say "No puedo creer que.." that I rather like:
Parece mentira que no sea mantequilla. (Literally, it seems like a lie that it's not butter.)
gracias anna8
Id found another translation on the net using the imperative that made me doubt myself
parece mentira que yo no fuera seguro.
la verdad es que no es mantequilla. :-)
y decir que es sí que sería mentira.