Why is the subjunctive only used in one of these sentences?
 

I have the two sentences from a short story:

"El collar y los aretes que lleva hacen que Laura se vea muy hermosa."

"¡Ellos también se ven bien!"

I believe the subjunctive is used in the first since it is a value/opinion judgement and not objective reality. But I feel like that should apply to the second sentence as well. To be clear, the second sentence is saying that other people aside from Laura also look good.

I'll give my thoughts on this because I was looking into this exact thing two days ago. I'm no expert, however, but it might be useful.

In your first example the subjunctive seems to be required simply as a marker of subordination, that is, it is grammatically required.

"El verbo hacer + complemento + subjuntivo se traduce por to make + object + infinitive."

E.g.: Hizo que me equivocara. He made me go wrong.

The Romance Languages, Oxford University Press, 1988, has this general discussion on the Spanish subjunctive:

"All varieties of Spanish preserve a vigorous subjunctive mood. Opinion is divided, however, on whether the subjunctive should be viewed as an independently meaningful category or as a 'mere' marker of subordination. Its use in many contexts is undoubtedly determined by grammatical factors ..."

So, in other words, the construction using hacer requires the subjunctive as a grammatical rule.

Your second example has no subordinate clause, and it appears to me to be indicative.

I agree with elchocano. :)


I will add a few more examples:


Here, it's important to learn that the verb "verse" is used to describe what something or someone looks like.
- María se ve triste.
Maria looks sad.
- Mi casa se ve más bonita cuando la limpio.
My house looks nicer when I clean it up.
- Tu perro se ve contento.
Your dog looks happy.
- Estos calcetines se ven muy bien con zapatos deportivos.
These socks look very well with sneakers.
- ¿Cómo me veo?
How do I look?
- Te ves muy guapa con ese peinado.
You look beautiful with that hairstyle.
- Todas las concursantes se ven nerviosas.
All the contestants look nervous.


The next thing is that a construction with "hacer que", is followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood.
(There is an exception, but we'll stay here for the moment.) ;)
- ¿Crees que este vestido hace que me vea gorda?
Do you think this dress makes me look fat?
- El ruido hace que me duela la cabeza.
The noise gives me a headache.
- Los dulces hacen que los dientes se piquen.
Sweets cause teeth to rot.
- La publicidad hace que los jóvenes beban más alcohol.
Advertising makes young people drink more alcohol.