Subjuntivo

[emilwest]

Hola mis cuates.

Estoy repasando el subjuntivo y encontré una frase que me sorprendió.

"No sé si les interesa a Uds. comprar acciones de la SEAT ahora."

Por qué no está interesar en subjuntivo? Doesn't "No sé" indicate a doubt? Then why is interesar in this case in indicativo and not in subjuntivo?

[aleCcowaN]

The person has the people with the answer to his/her "no sé" in front of him/her. But that person might use subjunctive in order to be very polite.

Let's analyze another case, without the people in front of us:

No sé si les interesa (a ellos) (I have no such piece of information)
No sé si les interese (a ellos) ("It's not confirmed yet, but I doubt they do" or "I'm not sure they do")

[emilwest]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

The person has the people with the answer to his/her "no sé" in front of him/her. But that person might use subjunctive in order to be very polite.

No sé si te he entendido bien...

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by emilwest

No sé si te he entendido bien...

The case with "ustedes" is not an easy one because there are many reasons pro indicative or subjunctive all acting at the same time.

If it's strictly a matter of information, why would someone say "No sé si les interese comprar..." because of a doubt, when the answer is in front of him? Or if you prefer, a person who doesn't know also doesn't doubt. It all depends on the meaning of no saber, and meanings more closer to creer or dudar are not possible in a context with you having in front the people who can give you an exact answer to your question.

But if the person is offering the shares, well, he may use indicative to force them to pay attention or to favour an affirmative answer, or he may use subjunctive to sound less imposing.

That's the problem when there are many aspects entwined in the same example.

[emilwest]

Ahaa, I think I understand it a little bit now.
So "No sé" doesn't actually trigger the subjunctive, beacause it doesn't imply doubt? And in this contect there is no doubt that he doesn't know, so there is no use for the subjunctive there, unless he wan't to be polite. If I understood you right?

(Man, the subjunctiva can get really tricky sometimes)

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by emilwest

Ahaa, I think I understand it a little bit now.
So "No sé" doesn't actually trigger the subjunctive, beacause it doesn't imply doubt? And in this contect there is no doubt that he doesn't know, so there is no use for the subjunctive there, unless he wan't to be polite. If I understood you right?

(Man, the subjunctiva can get really tricky sometimes)

Yes, not knowing something is pretty much a statement of facts, when to know means having pieces of information ... but two more things:

1) It's "no sé si ..."

When there's a que, the second part is attached to the first one, but with si the focus moves onto the second part of the sentence.

2) There are no "triggers". You think using subjunctive, you don't elaborate a thought in English, Swedish or Chinese and then you wrap it up in the colourful clothes of Spanish. There's no Jack-in-the-box there. I know it's another instance of "easier said than done", but catching that is the only way to learn it for sure.