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

[createdamadman]

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.

[elchocoano]

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.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

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.