Exploring the subjunctive

[ducviloxi]

Puedes verlo
[you can see it = indicative]

No pienso que puedas verlo
[I do not think you can see it = subjunctive]

puedas verlo
[you may be able to see it] En este caso estoy usando el subjuntivo sin palabras antes del verbo [subjunctive]

Podemos verlo
[we can see him = indicative]

Espero que podamos verlo
[I hope we can see him = subjunctive]

podamos verlo
[we may be able to see him = subjunctive]

pero, para la divérsion, pongo esta frase en traductor de Google:
"we may be able to see him", la resulta fue "podemos ser capaces de verlo" ¿tiene sentido?

[aleCcowaN]

I think Google translator has it OK.

You translated into English two phrases that are at least ungrammatical: "puedas verlo" and "podamos verlo", although you was aware of that fact. But you translated them anyway so you probably didn't do it from its source language (real Spanish) but from some idea you may have in English about what Spanish subjunctive is.

Don't think of this as hard criticism on my part, as I fully understand that it is very difficult to catch the essence of Spanish subjunctive departing from a language that has not comparable features, but I wanted you to have some feedback.

Thinking of "you may be able to see it" couldn't be farther from the use of subjunctive in "No pienso que puedas verlo", especially when its positive counterpart is "Pienso que puedes verlo" and "pienso que puedas verlo" is ungrammatical within the sense you are analysing it (it may make sense in some pragmatic context, but with a different meaning of pensar). Think in these sentences in English -not exactly the same- and try to explain why b and c use can in opposite ways being that they are not extremely unlike:

a)You can see it.
b) I don't think you can see it.
c) You cannot see it, I think.

Well, Spanish subjunctive states that a notion is not in our mind so

a) Puedes verlo.
b) No pienso que puedas verlo.
c) No puedes verlo, pienso yo. (I think there are different cases for this sentence)

[ducviloxi]

Muchas gracias por su respuesta aleCcowaN

[micho]

Originally Posted by ducviloxi

Puedes verlo
[you can see it = indicative]

No pienso que puedas verlo
[I do not think you can see it = subjunctive]

puedas verlo
[you may be able to see it] En este caso estoy usando el subjuntivo sin palabras antes del verbo [subjunctive]

Podemos verlo
[we can see him = indicative]

Espero que podamos verlo
[I hope we can see him = subjunctive]

podamos verlo
[we may be able to see him = subjunctive]

pero, para la divérsion, pongo esta frase en traductor de Google:
"we may be able to see him", la resulta fue "podemos ser capaces de verlo" ¿tiene sentido?

¡Sí tiene sentido esa frase!. "Nosotros podemos ser capaces de verlo" es español correcto.
Si la frase fuera "it may be we are able to see him" sería subjuntivo. ¿es correcta esa frase en inglés?

[ducviloxi]

Originally Posted by micho

Si la frase fuera "it may be we are able to see him" sería subjuntivo. ¿es correcta esa frase en inglés?

Perhaps we would be able to see him

or

Maybe we would see him

or

We may be able to see him

[Rusty]

'It may be we are able to see him' is a valid English sentence. An equivalent would be 'Perhaps we are able to see him'.

[ducviloxi]

Originally Posted by Rusty

'It may be we are able to see him' is a valid English sentence. An equivalent would be 'Perhaps we are able to see him'.

It could be grammatically correct but I have not heard the construct "it may be we are able to see him" used in daily native speech often, perhaps it's a bit formal "we may be able to see him" would be the more straightforward option IMHO.

This goes to show that there are variations in interpretations and understanding even among native speakers

Appreciate all the good information in this thread!