Subjunctive in English

FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS
DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA

Grado en Estudios Ingleses
TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO
Transferring the Spanish Subjunctive Mood into English:

The Case of Dependent Clauses Introduced by "que"
Carla Renata Salvador Dos Santos
Tutora: Leonor Pérez Ruiz
2015/2016
ABSTRACT
English and Spanish do not behave in the same way with respect to the subjunctive
mood. This empirical study investigates the transfer of the Spanish subjunctive into
English by 20 L2 university learners of English in their first year of the B.A. in English
Studies at the University of Valladolid and whose native language is Spanish. We have
designed two translation tasks. The first translation task aims to observe if the transfer
of the Spanish subjunctive into English poses problems for Spanish L2 learners of
English. The second translation task aims to observe if there is an improvement in the
results of the translation task when students are provided information on how to
translate the Spanish subjunctive into English. The analysis of the data shows (1) that
there are some structures that are difficult to translate and (2) that the information that
participants were given on how to translate the Spanish subjunctive into English helps
to improve the results in the second translation task.
KEYWORDS: subjunctive, translation, English learners, Spanish natives, problems.
El inglés y el español no se comportan de igual manera con respecto al modo

subjuntivo. Este estudio empírico investiga la transferencia del subjuntivo en español al
inglés por 20 estudiantes universitarios de inglés como L2 en su primer año del Grado
en Estudios Ingleses de la Universidad de Valladolid y cuya lengua materna es el
español. Hemos diseñado dos tareas de traducción. La primera está diseñada para
observar si la transferencia del subjuntivo del español al inglés plantea problemas a los
españoles estudiantes de inglés como L2. La segunda tarea de traducción está diseñada
para observar si los resultados en la tarea de traducción mejoran cuando a los
participantes se les da información de cómo traducir el subjuntivo del español al inglés.
Los análisis de los resultados demuestran (1) que hay algunas estructuras que son
difíciles a la hora de traducirlas y (2) que la información que se les dio a los
participantes sobre cómo traducir el subjuntivo español al inglés ayuda a mejorar los
resultados de la segunda tarea de traducción.
PALABRAS CLAVES: subjuntivo, traducción, estudiantes de inglés, nativos españoles,

problemas.
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INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 3
2. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD................................................................................... 4
2.1. The subjunctive in Spanish.................................................................................................4
2.1.1. The Spanish subjunctive in dependent que-clauses and its equivalent in
English ....................................................................................................................... 6
2.2. The subjunctive in English ...............................................................................................10
2.3. Differences in the expression of the English and Spanish subjunctive ...............12
3. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................. 13
4. RESULTS ................................................................................................................ 17
4.1. Results of Translation Task 1 ..........................................................................................17
4.1.1. Verbs of mental or physical action............................................................... 18
4.1.2. Verbs of communication .............................................................................. 20
4.1.3. Verbs of perception ...................................................................................... 22
4.1.4. Verbs of volition........................................................................................... 23
4.1.5. Verbs of influence ........................................................................................ 24
4.1.6. Verbs of emotion, doubt or judgment .......................................................... 26
4.2. Results of Translation Task 2 ..........................................................................................27
4.2.1. Verbs of mental or physical action............................................................... 28
4.2.2. Verbs of communication .............................................................................. 29
4.2.3. Verbs of perception ...................................................................................... 31
4.2.4. Verbs of volition........................................................................................... 32
4.2.5. Verbs of influence ........................................................................................ 33
4.2.6. Verbs of emotion, doubt or judgment .......................................................... 34
5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................... 36
6. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 39
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1. INTRODUCTION
Mood continues to represent a domain where little investigation has been done
on second language (L2) research, especially when compared to other domains like
tense and aspect. There is a great interest in the domain of mood regarding L2
acquisition of the Spanish subjunctive (see e.g. Collentine 2014 for an overview), but
investigations of mood in English as L2 are limited for a number of reasons (Jespersen
1959; Palmer 1986; Stanley 1986). Although the subjunctive is a specific marker of
mood, in English the subjunctive is infrequent as well as it lacks of its own morphology
(Jespersen, 1959). Only one form of the present subjunctive in English is
morphologically different from the present indicative and it only exists in the singular
which is were (indicative was), and consequently, the rest of the forms of the English
subjunctive are not distinct from the indicative. The subjunctive in Spanish is used more
frequently than in English and also contrasts with it in having its own morphology,
making it clearly identifiable and more noticeable in comparison. With this information
about the English and Spanish subjunctive, it seems evident that these two languages do
not behave in the same way with respect to the subjunctive mood but to date this has not
been extensively investigated.
This research paper investigates if the Spanish subjunctive is a challenge for

Spanish university learners of English as their second language (L2) when it has to be
translated into English. More specifically, our study focuses on how the subjunctive in
dependent que-clauses is transferred into English in an attempt to convey the same
meaning. This transfer of the Spanish subjunctive into English may be a problem for
learners since there is not real correspondence between Spanish and English. In order to
throw some light on how the Spanish subjunctive is transferred into English by Spanish-
speaking university learners of English, we will carry out an empirical study. We will
analyze the different examples produced by the participants in two translation tasks in
order to answer the following research questions:
x Do learners have a problem when transferring the Spanish subjunctive into

English in dependent que-clauses? Our hypothesis is that the transfer may pose a
problem since English and Spanish do not behave in the same way with respect
its use.
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x If students are provided with information on how to translate the Spanish
subjunctive into English, does this help to improve their results in the translation
task? Our hypothesis is that providing this type of information may help L2
learners of English in the translation task.
This research paper is organized in three parts. The first part of our study
consists of a theoretical description of the subjunctive mood in English and in Spanish.
Then, we will present the methodology used for our empirical study in which we have
described the participants that took part in the study, the translation tasks that we have
designed to obtain the data from the participants, and the procedure followed. The third
part of our work covers the analysis of the results obtained. This analysis has been
divided in two sections which are the results of the first translation task and the results
of the second translation task. Finally, we will present our conclusions according to the
data obtained.
2. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
In this section, we will provide a theoretical background of the subjunctive mood

in English and Spanish. First, we will analyze English and Spanish independently
regarding this mood. Second, we will compare the subjunctive mood in these two
languages.
2.1. The subjunctive in Spanish
It has always been a difficult task to define the Spanish subjunctive mood and a
lot of literature had been written in order to give a unique and accurate definition. A
case in point is the commented bibliography written by Navas Ruiz (1990) in which we
can find all the works written about the Spanish subjunctive until 1987. Following the
previous idea, we find other interesting works dealing with the topic of the Spanish
subjunctive mood such as those by Bosque (1990), Sastre (1997), Fente (1971), and Gili
Gaya (1994) as the most noteworthy. In fact, as Zamorano states “la variedad de
criterios y la pluralidad de enfoques [sobre el subjuntivo] es directamente proporcional a
la cantidad de estudios dedicados al subjuntivo.” (Zamorano, 2005:19)
4
Many writers analyze different implications in the use of the indicative and the
subjunctive mood. For example, Sastre (1997:15) defines the indicative as “el modo de
la factualidad y de la imposición objetiva de los fenómenos” and the subjunctive as “el
modo de la virtualidad, de lo hipotético, de la valoración subjetiva de la realidad”.
Similarly, Bustos (1986:32) explains that with the use of the indicative the speaker
commits himself/herself to the truth about what he/she is saying, one thing that does not
happen when the speaker uses the subjunctive.
Volition, wish, doubt and negation verbs are the verbs which better fit with the
category of non-reality, future and virtuality because they indicate something that has
not yet occurred. For example, let’s take a look at these sentences:
[1] Yo quiero que vayas al parque conmigo
[2] Dudo que Pablo vaya al parque con Pedro
The action of going to the park has not yet occurred in the moment when [1] and
[2] were being pronounced, in fact, the action is expected to occur after [1] and [2] take
place.
There are several authors like Fente (1971) who are against the idea that the
subjunctive mood is a relative mood that only appears in subordinate clauses. However,
Busch (2009) shows that in imperative and exclamatory sentences as well as idiomatic
expressions such as:
[3] ¡Que viva el rey!
[4] ¡No vayas con él!,
We can find that the verb of the main clause is in the subjunctive mood.
Nevertheless, sentences [3] and [4] are just cases where there is an omission of the
main clause. Therefore, sentences [3] and [4] are the result of an omission, being the
non-omitted sentences:
[5] Queremos que viva el rey
[6] No quiero que vayas con él.
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Considerable research has been done on the acquisition and teaching of the
Spanish subjunctive in the field of Spanish as a foreign language from different
perspectives and points of view. Here, we will only mention a few of the great amount
of works that exist related to this topic. The Spanish subjunctive has been the subject of
many studies due to the difficulty that it always supposes for students of Spanish.
Terrell (1987) carried out an empirical study with students of Spanish who were in their
third semester and whose native language was English. The results showed that after
two years of studying Spanish at the university, students were not able to select mood
properly neither in oral nor in written production thus indicating that this structure is
acquired late.
In the field of Spanish L2, Varela (2005) indicates that Spanish grammar
teaching as a foreign language still follows traditional methods that consist in describing
the material explicitly and giving rules that students have to follow. She criticizes that
this process doesn’t help students to understand how the Spanish grammar functions.
Varela rejects traditional focus-on-meaning activities that ignore the linguistic forms
and proposes a new method of introducing the Spanish subjunctive by using focus-on-
form activities combined with recent explanations of the uses of the subjunctive. Varela
proposes focus-on-form activities that aim first to direct students to the comprehension
of the meaning of a word and then to its linguistic comprehension.
2.1.1. The Spanish subjunctive in dependent que-clauses and its equivalent

in English.
We have compiled a series of common characteristics that help us understand

the Spanish subjunctive based on the contributions of the different authors analyzed in
the previous section. Those characteristics will help us systematize the Spanish
subjunctive. Here, we will deal with Spanish dependent que-clauses and the English
equivalent structure for these Spanish constructions in which the verb of the dependent
clause is in the subjunctive mood. We have divided this part into small subsections in
which we will talk about the Spanish subjunctive mood from a more general point of
view to a more specific one.
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a) What are the indicative and the subjunctive moods and when should they be used?
The moods express the attitude of the speaker. The indicative mood is used to
make a declarative statement, expressing a fact or an opinion while the subjunctive
mood is used to convey a wish, a possibility or a state of existence contrary to reality-
The subjunctive mood is also used to talk about a hypothetical situation that expresses a
statement that is different or opposite to what is actually real.
The indicative mood can be used in simple sentences (those that only have one
predicate) as in example [7] or in complex sentences as in example [8].
[7] Mañana lloverá.
[8] Sé que mañana lloverá.
The subjunctive mood is only used in complex sentences such as [8] and it is
dependent to a main clause.
b) How is the subjunctive formed in Spanish?
The subjunctive tense system in Spanish is less elaborated than the Spanish
indicative tense system. Consequently, the ten verb tense categories existing in the
indicative are reduced to only four verb tenses in the subjunctive as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Correspondence of tenses between the indicative and the subjunctive

moods.
INDICATIVE MOOD SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
PRESENT Vienen Vengan
FUTURE Vendrán
PRESENT PERFECT Han venido Hayan venido
FUTURE PERFECT Habrán venido
IMPERFECT Venían Vinieran (viniesen)
PRETERITE Vinieron
CONDITIONAL Vendrían
PAST PERFECT (IMP.) Habían venido
PAST PERFECT (PRET.) Hubieron venido Hubieran (hubiesen) venido
CONDITIONAL PRESENT Habrían venido
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c) What are independent and dependent clauses.
An independent clause only has a subject and a predicate:
[9] Juan (subject) juega al fútbol (predicate).
A dependent clause is used to complete the main clause. The dependent clause
and the main clause have their own subject and inflected verb:
[10] Juan (subject 1) quiere (predicate 1) que su hermano (subject 2) juegue al

fútbol (predicate 2).
d) Types of dependent clauses
There are three types of dependent clauses: noun clauses, adjective clauses and
adverbial clauses. Noun clauses are introduced by conjunctions such as que. Adjective
clauses are introduced by the relative pronouns que, el/la los/las que, quien(es). Adverb
clauses are those introduced by different conjunctions such as cuando, para que, sin
que, antes de que, aunque, etc. In all the previously mentioned types of dependent
clauses, the subjunctive is always used in the dependent clause and never in the main
clause.
There are certain types of verbs in Spanish used in the main clause that require
the use of the subjunctive mood in the verb of the dependent clause. In this paper we
have followed Sastre Ruano (1997) classification in which she organizes the structures
that require the use of the subjunctive mood. Sastre Ruano establishes two large groups.
Group 1 includes those verbs that the speaker uses to state a fact. Group 1 is at the same
time divided into three subgroups.
The first subgroup includes the verbs of mental or physical action that do not
express volition or wish. Some examples of these are: acordarse de, adivinar,
comprender, creer, endender, pensar, reconocer, saber, verificar, etc.
The second subgroup contains verbs of communication that make reference to

the transmission of the message issued by the speaker through all the codes and
channels. They are the so-called dicendi verbs that make reference to the different ways
of “decir”, providing all of them different nuances. Some examples of this subgroup of
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verbs are: asegurar, confesar, contra, decir, exponer, expresar, inisistir (en),
manifestar, negar, referir, señalar, etc.
The last subgroup consists of verbs of perception. They are used to make
reference to something that is perceived through the senses. Some examples are: notar,
observer, oír, percibir, ver, etc.
Group 2 refers to those verbs characterized by wanting someone to do

something. The use of these types of verbs is also intended to influence on someone’s
behavior or over any situation, and they make reference to the moods or feelings that
facts, actions or situations produce in the speaker (fear, doubt, surprise, etc.). There are
volition verbs such as desear, frustrar,intentar, negarse a, querer, oponerse a, preferir,
etc; verbs of influence such as pedir, solicitor, aconsejar, recomendar, decir,
dictaminar, ordenar, imponer, consentir, permitir, dejar, prohibir, obligor a, etc.; and
verbs of emotion, doubt or jugdment such as admirar, asgradar, alegrar, asustar,
digustar, diverter, encantar, gustar, molestar, etc. In this Group 2 of verbs, there are
also expressions that indicate a feeling or judgment. Those expressions are made up
with the verbs ser and estar in the third person singular + a noun, an adjective or an
adverb (depending on the type) + que. We find constructions like es necesario que, es
una sorpresa que, and está bien que.
e) English equivalent structures
Even though it is possible to find constructions with a literal translation in

English, those cases are only common in the literary style:
[11] Es necesario que venga Æ It is necessary that he come.
But it is usually normal to have an indicative in the dependent clause:
[12] No es que no te quiera Æ It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you.
In English, Spanish dependent que-clauses are usually substituted by these

constructions:
¾ To + infinitive:
[13] Dile que venga Æ Tell her to come.
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[14] Me dijo que me fuera Æ He told me to leave
¾ For + subject + to + infinitive:

[15] Estaba esperando a que vinieras Æ I was waiting for you to come.
¾ That clause (verb of the dependent clause inflected)

[16] Confío en que venga Æ I hope that she’ll come.
[17] No me dijo que tu jugaras al baloncesto Æ He didn’t tell me that
you played basketball
¾ Constructions were that cannot be used:.

[18] Me alegra que hayan venido Æ I am glad they came.
¾ That + subject + to + infinitive:

[19] Quiero que aprendas Æ I want you to learn
[20] Les ruego que presten atención Æ I beg you to pay attention.
2.2. The subjunctive in English
The subjunctive mood is very unusual in present-day English and it doesn’t have
its own morphology. The present has the same form as the infinitive, and the simple
present is the same as the indicative. There is only one verb that has a different
desinence but it only appears in the singular and usually tends not to be used:
In the preterit only one verb has a subjunctive form that is distinct from
the indicative and that only in the singular: were (indicative was). This
form is to a great extent being displaced by was, so that the tendency is
to get rid of the preterit subjunctive form in all cases. (Jespersen,
1959:293)
Palmer points out that the subjunctive in English has almost disappeared and it
has been substituted by the modal verbs:
There is no need to be much concerned with the subjunctive in English

(…) This has largely disappeared from English, and can well be argued
that it has been replaced by the modal verbs, though traditional scholars
may still argue for its use. (Palmer, 1986:43)
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Hoye (1997) says that the English subjunctive only exists with a small group of
verbs in subordinate clauses and in wish expressions in independent clauses:
In English the subjunctive occurs in subordinate clauses in association

with a very small class of verbs like demand, insist, require; and in main
clauses it is restricted to an archaic or formulaic utterances such as so be
it! (Hoye, 1997:39)
Stockwell (1965) gives us a few instances where a subjunctive may be found in

English:
If he were a little older, he’d understand.
I suggest that his name be deleted.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.
Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.

(Stockwell, 1965:242)
Following Quirk (1998), there are three categories of subjunctive that may be
found in English. The first one is the mandative subjunctive. We can find this type of
subjunctive in that-clauses. This type of subjunctive is not inflected and it has the base
form of the verb. This subjunctive may appear with any verb in subordinate that-clauses
only when the main clause expresses recommendation, resolution, demand, etc. E.g.: we
demand/require/insist/ suggest/ask/etc. that ... This subjunctive is used mainly in formal
styles (especially in American English). In less formal styles there is a tendency to use
structures such as to-infinitive or should + infinitive as in:
It is necessary that every member inform himself of these rules.
It is necessary that every member should inform himself of these rules.
It is necessary for every member to inform himself of these rules.
The second category is the formulaic subjunctive. This type of subjunctive, as

the previous one, is not infected and it has the base form of the verb. It normally appears
in fixed expressions such as:
Come what may, we will go ahead
God save the Queen
Be that as it may…
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Heaven forbid that…
The third and last category is the subjunctive were. This subjunctive is used for
hypothetical situations and it can be found in conditional and concessive clauses inside
subordinate clauses after verbs like wish. It can only be found in the 1st and 3rd person
singular past of the verb be. Were corresponds to the indicative was, which is normally
used in less formal style:
If she was/were to do something like that, …
He spoke to me as if I was/were deaf
2.3. Differences in the expression of the English and Spanish subjunctive.
English and Spanish are two languages that do not behave in the same way in
many grammatical aspects like verb tenses where there is no correspondence between
them in the use of tenses. Also, word order Spanish is more flexible than English.
Stockwell (1965) explains that the difference between English and Spanish verb
systems produces an inevitable conflict between these two languages:
The Spanish verb system is the most complex of the morphologically

distinct classes. Verbs are inflected for FINITY (finite and non-finite),
TENSE (or more accurately for a combination of Tense and Aspect),
MOOD, PERSON and NUMBER. These five categories produce a total
of forty-six or forty-seven distinct forms. This compares with only four
of five distinctive forms for English verbs, with categories of tense,
person-number, and two participles imperfective and perfective –
traditionally called present and past participles. The conflict is
immediately obvious: many forms in Spanish equate with a single form
in English. Also, the Spanish verb carries more information than the
English verb. (Stockwell, 1965:187)
Within verb grammar, the subjunctive mood seems to be a complicated

grammatical point since there are many differences between these two languages. As we
have seen before despite the subjunctive exists in English, it is not as frequent as it is in
Spanish. In English if you want to add an element of uncertainty this is achieved with
the use of modals:
Perhaps he is coming Æ Perhaps he may come.
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Stanley (1986: 85) says that “the English subjunctive is moribund, and current
usage relies more on modals and infinitival constructions to convey nuances expressed
by the Spanish subjunctive”
Some English modals are matched not with a Spanish auxiliary but with a tense
category. Stanley (1986) explains that shall go and will go are said to represent future
tense corresponding to iré and irá, and should go and would go are said to represent
conditional tense, corresponding to iría. In terms of morphological systems, modals
verbs are auxiliaries, not tenses, but it is true that they can supply tense-like
information.
In this paper we will deal with the analysis of the transfer of the Spanish
subjunctive into English by Spanish university learners of English since we have found
that there are no similar works in this field. We believe that the reason why this has not
been studied before is because it is harder to acquire the Spanish subjunctive when
English is your L1 than to translate complex sentences with a dependent que-clause
from Spanish into English by participants.
3. METHODOLOGY
In order to test our hypotheses a study has been carried out with 20 Spanish
university learners of English. Participants took two translation tasks where they had to
transfer the meaning of 18 sentences, from Spanish into English, in which the verb of
the dependent que-clause was in the subjunctive mood. This section includes a
description of the participants that took part in this experiment, the tasks that we have
designed to obtain the data from the participants, and the procedure followed.
Participants
A group of 20 L2 university learners of English whose native language is

Spanish participated in our empirical study. The participants (mean age 18.4) were all
born and raised in different cities and villages of Spain, being Castilla y León the
autonomous community where the majority of participants come from. They are all
undergraduate students in the first year of the B.A. in English Studies at the University
of Valladolid, where the study took place. The majority of the participants in this study
13
are female (85 %). The reason why this percentage of females is so high is because most
of the students enrolled in the first year of the B.A. in English Studies at the University
of Valladolid are females. Participants’ data are illustrated in Table 1.
Table 2. Information about the L2- English learner participants.
Participants (20)
Mean age 18.4 (18-22)
Female 17
Male 3
Valladolid 14
Participants’ hometown Torrelavega 2
Guardo 1
Palencia 2
Madrid 1
In order to select the participants, we relied on a level test that participants had
taken at the beginning of the semester in the subject Lengua Inglesa: Gramática
Descriptiva II. The teacher, Dr. Esther Álvarez de la Fuente, wanted to measure
students’ English language skills to have a general idea of their proficiency. Students
kindly gave their permission to use these scores which we employed to select the
participants for the empirical study. The test Dr. Álvarez de la Fuente used was the
Quick Placement Test – Version 1 developed by Oxford University Press and
University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (see Appendix). The maximum
score on this test is 60, and the selected participants scored in the range of 30–39 (lower
intermediate level) corresponding to a B1 level according to the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The reason why we selected
participants with a B1 level is because it was the predominant level among the students
in group B of the first year of the B.A. in English Studies at the University of
Valladolid.
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Materials and Procedure
The participants took two translation tasks in two different sessions. They first
took the first translation task and one week later the second translation task. One day
before participants took the second translation task, they were given information on how
to translate the Spanish subjunctive into English. This information was given for them
to look at and assimilate. It included the structures that should have been used in
English in the first translation task and also included some of the mistakes that
participants usually made. The aim of given them that information was to observe if the
information helps participants to translate the Spanish subjunctive into English.
The two translation tasks consisted of 18 sentences in Spanish which participants

had to translate into English. The structure of the Spanish sentences was:
Main clause (verb in the indicative mood) + que + dependent clause (verb in the
subjunctive mood)
Sentences were grouped according to Sastre’s classification (1997:46). This

author divides sentences according to the verb of the main clause, hence we find six
different types of verbs that imply the use of the subjunctive in the verb of the
dependent verb: mental or physical action verbs, verbs of communication, verbs of
perception, verbs of volition, verbs of influence, and verbs that express doubt, emotion
or judgment. Three verbs from each category were selected to create the tests resulting
in a total number of 18 sentences. Those verbs were taken from a list of verbs included
in Sastre (1997). Participants were asked to translate the sentences into English making
any changes they thought necessary but trying to keep the meaning of the Spanish
sentence.
The first translation task was designed to check if the transfer of Spanish
subjunctive into English poses a problem for participants. The second translation task
was similar to the first one. We designed a similar translation task with different
sentences but using the same verbs in the main clause as in the first translation task and
with the verb of the dependent clause also in the subjunctive mood. This new translation
task was made in order to check if the mistakes that had been made in the first
translation task were caused by a lack of understanding of the Spanish sentence or
15
because participants were unaware of the equivalent structure to express the same
meaning into English.
Although participants are not supposed to commit errors in their written

productions in the translation tasks, we found that there were frequent errors produced
by the participants. Those errors (listed below) will not be taken into account in this
study since our main interest was how do participants manage to translate the Spanish
subjunctive mood into English. These are the frequent errors produced by participants:
x The wrong use of the pronouns when this did not affect the inflection of the verb
as for example in:
0HDOHJURTXHKD\DQYHQLGRHOORVĺ,DPJODGyou came.
x The wrong conjugation of the verb ‘to be’ as in:
3ULPHURpOYHULILFyTXHWRGRHVWXYLHUDELHQĺ)LUVWKHYHULILHGWKDWHYHU\WKLQJ
were ok.
x The wrong use of some verbs as regards their meaning as in:

Me dijo que me fuera ĺ+HWROGPHWRgo out (leave).
x Elision of the third person singular -s of the present simple as in:

(OPDOWLHPSRKDFHTXHODJHQWHVHTXHGHHQFDVDĺ%DGZHDWKHUPDNHBSHRSOH
stay at home.
(VSHUDPRVTXHHOODVHPHMRUHSURQWRĺ:HKRSHVKHJHWBEHWWHUVRRQ
x Wrong conjugation of the verb in the past simple as in:

No me contaron que tuvieras problemas legales ĺWKH\GLGQ¶Wtold me that you
had legal problems.
x Wrong conjugation of the some verbs in the present simple as in:

No veo que la infección mejore ĺ,don’t saw that the infection is getting better.
In some cases where we doubted about the grammaticality of the student’s

production, we asked an English native speaker for advice.
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4. RESULTS
This section includes the analysis of the data obtained. It will be divided into two
subsections. The first one, called Results of Translation Task 1, includes the analysis of
the results of the first translation task. The second subsection, called Results of
Translation Task 2, includes the analysis of the results of the second translation task.
The results have been classified in terms of expected and non-expected answers.
Expected answers correspond to the first option that we thought as a correct translation
when the translation tasks were designed. Non-expected answers are those translations
from participants that are different from what we first expected when the test was
designed. Non-expected answers are divided into correct answers and incorrect
answers. Correct answers correspond to those translations which were not expected but
are grammatical, and in which the transfer of meaning of the Spanish subjunctive into
English has been correctly performed. Incorrect answers correspond to those
translations in which there is not a correct transfer of the meaning of the subjunctive
mood into English and/or are ungrammatical.
4.1. Results of Translation Task 1
Table 3 shows the results of the first translation task. The answers will be
explained below.
Table 3. Results of Translation Task 1.
CATEGORY STRUCTURES EXPECTED NON-EXPECTED

ANSWERS ANSWERS
CORRECT INCORRECT
Mental or physical hacer que + subj. 13 0 7

action
no creer que + 16 1 3
subj.
comprender que 15 3 2
+ subj.
Communication no decir que + 9 4 7

subj.
no contar que + 11 5 4
17
subj.
no confesar que 12 1 7
+ subj.
Perception no notar que + 6 4 10

subj.
no ver que + 8 2 10
subj.
verificar que + 16 1 3
subj.
Volition querer que + 18 0 2

subj.
esperar que + 15 2 3
subj.
intentar que + 3 11 6
subj.
Influence decir que + subj. 17 0 3
dejar que + subj. 13 3 4
obligar a que + 8 9 3
subj.
Emotion, doubt or no creer que + 13 2 5

judgment subj.
alegrar que + 11 5 4
subj.
hacer que + subj. 18 0 2
4.1.1. Verbs of mental or physical action

i. Hacer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was El mal tiempo hace que la gente
se quede en casa. 13 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this
sentence which was Bad weather makes people stay at home. There were 7 participants
who produced non-expected answers. Those 7 non-expected answers are ungrammatical
in English:
18
- The bad weather has that people stay at home.
- Bad weather makes people that stay at home.
- Bad weather makes that people have to stay at home.
- Bad weather makes people to stay at home. (Two participants produced
this sentence).
- Bad weather makes people staying at home. (Two participants produced
this sentence).
ii. No creer que + subj.
The sentence chosen with this verb structure was No creo que ella tenga tiempo.
16 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I don’t think
that she has time. There were 4 participants who produced non-expected answers. From
those non-expected answers 1 is correct:
- I don’t believe she has time.
And 3 sentences that are incorrect. One is ungrammatical in English:
- I don’t think her to have time.
And the problem of the other 2 is that the verbal tense in the subordinate clause
is incorrect since tenga makes reference to the present, and not to the part or to the
future:
- I don’t think she had time.

- I don’t think she’ll got time.
iii. Comprender que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Comprendo que no viniera a la

fiesta. A number of 15 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
which was I understand that he/she didn’t come to the party. 5 participants produced
non-expected answers. There were 3 participants who produced non-expected answers
that are correct:
- I get that she didn’t come to the party.
19
- I comprehend that he did not come to the party.
- I understand that she didn’t go to the party.
2 participants produced the same non-expected answers in which the verbal

tense in the subordinate clause is incorrect:
- I understand that he hasn’t come to the party.
4.1.2. Verbs of communication

i. No decir que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Marta no me dijo que fueras
médico. 9 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which
was Marta didn’t tell me that you were a doctor. There were 11 participants who
produced non-expected answers. There were 4 non-expected answers that are correct:
- Marta didn’t tell me that you are a doctor. (3x)

- Marta didn’t mention you were a doctor.
From those 11 non-expected answers, 7 are incorrect:
- Marta didn’t tell me you were going to the doctor. (2x)

- Marta didn’t say me that you were doctor. This sentence is
ungrammatical
- Marta didn’t tell me that you go to the doctor.
- Marta didn’t tell me that you will go to the doctor.
- Marta didn’t tell me you to go to the doctor.
- Marta didn’t tell me you went to the doctor
The rest of incorrect productions performed by the participants are characterized

by the fact that they did not understood the sentence in which fueras medico means that
a person has a certificate as medical doctor and practises as a doctor and not that
someone went to the doctor.
20
ii. No contar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No me contaron que tuvieras

problemas legales. 11 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this
sentence which was They didn’t tell me that you had legal problems. There were 9
participants who produced non-expected answers. Out of these, there are 5 non-
expected answers that are correct:
- I wasn’t told that you had legal issues. (3x)

- Nobody told me you had legal problems.
- They didn’t tell me that you were having legal problems.
- They didn’t tell me that you has legal problems.

- They didn’t tell me that you will have legal problems.
- They didn’t tell me that you have legal problems. (2x)
In the last four sentences, verbal tense in the subordinate clause is incorrectly
transferred into English.
iii. No confesar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No me confesó que tuvieras

problemas legales. 12 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this
sentence which was He/she didn’t confess to me that he/she was in love with him. There
were 8 participants who produced non-expected answers. There is 1 non-expected
answer that is correct:
- She did not confess to me that she fell in love with him.
From those 8 non-expected answers, 7 are incorrect because again the verb tense
is not correctly transferred in the subordinate clause in English:
- She did not confess to me that she were in love with him.
- She did not confess to me that she would be in love with him. (2x)
- She didn’t confess me to be in love with him. (3x)
- She didn’t tell me she had fallen in love with him.
21
4.1.3. Verbs of perception
i. No notar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No noto que estés cansada. 6 of
the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I don’t
see that you are tired. There were 14 participants who produced non-expected answers.
There are 4 non-expected answers that are correct:
- I don’t notice that you are tired. (4x)
From those 14 non-expected answers, 10 were incorrect due to the fact that they
are ungrammatical in English:
- I don’t feel you are tired (7x).

- I don’t appreciate that you are tired.
- I can’t see you are tired. (2x)
ii. No ver que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No veo que la infección mejore. 8
of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I don’t
see that the infection is getting better. There were 12 participants who produced non-
expected answers. There are 2 non-expected answers that are correct:
- I don’t think that the infection has improved.

- I can’t see the infection improving.
From those 14 non-expected answers, 10 are incorrect because of the use of the
wrong verb tense in the subordinate clause in English:
- I don’t see the infection gets better. (5x)

- I don’t see that the infection goes well.
- I don’t think the infection improves.(4x)
22
iii. Verificar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Primero, él verificó que todo
estuviera bien. 16 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
which was First, he verified that everything was correct. There were 4 participants who
produced non-expected answers. There is 1 non-expected answer that is correct:
- First, he verified that everything went well.
From those 4 non-expected answers, 3 are incorrect since the verb tense in
English in the subordinate clause is again incorrectly chosen:
- Firstly, he verified that everything were correct. (2x)

- First, he verified that everything will be good.
4.1.4. Verbs of volition

i. Querer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Quiero que aprendas. 18 of the 20
participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I want you to
learn. There were 2 participants who produced the same non-expected answer that is
incorrect due to the fact that the sentence is ungrammatical in English:
- I want that you learn.
ii. Esperar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Esperamos que ella se mejore
pronto. 15 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which
was We hope she gets better soon. There were 5 participants who produced non-
expected answers. There are 2 non-expected answers that are correct:
- We wish that she improves soon (2x).
From those 5 non-expected answers, 3 are incorrect because of the wrong verb
tense selection in the subordinate clause in English:
- We hope she will get better soon.
23
- We hope her to get better soon.
- We wish she felt better soon.
iii. Intentar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Intento que suene bien. 3 of the 20
participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I try to make it
sound good. There were 17 participants who produced non-expected answers. There are
11 non-expected answers that are correct:
- I try to make it sound good. (5x)

- I am trying it to sound good. (5x)
- I intend it to sound well.
From those 17 non-expected answers, 6 participants produced the same sentence

that is incorrect since it is ungrammatical in English:
- I try that it sounds good. (6x)
4.1.5. Verbs of influence

i. Decir que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Me dijo que me fuera. 17 of the 20
participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was He told me to
leave. There were 3 participants who produced non-expected answers that are incorrect
and ungrammatical in English:
- He asked me for leave.

- He told me that I go out.
- He said me that I go out.
ii. Dejar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Me deja que te llame. 13 of the 20
participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was He lets me call
you. There were 7 participants who produced non-expected answers. There are 3 non-
24
- He permits me to call you.
- He allows me to call you.
- He allows me to phone you.
- She lets me to call you.

- She lets me calling you.
- She lets me that I phone you.
- He lets me that I call you.
iii. Obligar a que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Nos obligó a que le leyeramos la
novela. 8 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which
was He forced us to read the novel to him. There were 12 participants who produced
non-expected answers. There are 9 non-expected answers that are correct:
- He told us to read the novel. (2x)

- She obligated us to read him the novel. (4x)
- He ordered us to read the novel to him.
- She made us read the novel to him.
- We were obliged to read the novel to him.
From those 12 non-expected answers, 3 are incorrect because they are

ungrammatical in English:
- She made us to read the novel to him.

- She made us reading the novel to him.
- He compelled us to read the novel to him.
25
4.1.6. Verbs of emotion, doubt or judgment
i. No creer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No creo que llueva. 13 of the 20
participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I don’t think that
it is going to rain. There were 7 participants who produced non-expected answers.
There are 2 non-expected answers that are correct:
- I don’t believe it’ll rain

- I think it won’t rain.
- I don’t think that it rains (3x).

- I don’t think that it is raining (2x).
ii. Alegrar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Me alegra que hayan venido. 11
of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I am
glad they came. There were 9 participants who produced non-expected answers. There
are 5 non-expected answers that are correct:
- It makes me happy that they have come. (4x)

- I am happy that they came.
- I am glad they had come. (2x)

- I am happy of they have come. (2x).
The first sentence is incorrect because of the wrong verb tense selection in the
subordinate clause in English and the second one is incorrect because it is
ungrammatical in English.
26
iii. Hacer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Eso hace que me sienta triste. 18
of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was That
makes me feel sad. There were 2 participants who produced non-expected answers that
are incorrect because they are ungrammatical in English:
- It has that make me sad.

- That makes that I feel sad.
4.2. Results of Translation Task 2
Table 4 illustrates the results of the second translation task. Non-expected

answers will be explained below.
Table 4. Results of Translation Task 2
CATEGORY STRUCTURE EXPECTED NON-EXPECTED

ANSWERS ANSWERS
CORRECT INCORRECT
Mental or physical hacer que + 13 4 3

action subj.
no creer que + 11 8 1
subj.
comprender que 17 1 2
+ subj.
Communication no decir que + 12 3 5

subj.
no contar que + 11 3 6
subj.
no confesar que 13 4 3
+ subj.
Perception no notar que + 3 14 3

subj.
no ver que + 1 18 1
subj.
27
verificar que + 8 11 1
subj.
Volition querer que + 5 12 3

subj.
esperar que + 19 0 1
subj.
intentar que + 11 0 9
subj.
Influence decir que + subj. 4 15 1
dejar que + subj. 13 2 5
obligar a que + 6 14 0
subj.
Emotion, doubt or no creer que + 17 0 3

judgment subj.
alegrar que + 14 4 2
subj.
hacer que + 18 0 2
subj.
4.2.1. Verbs of mental or physical action

i. Hacer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Ver la televisión hace que seas
menos inteligente. 13 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this
sentence which was Watching television makes you less intelligent. There were 7
participants who produced non-expected answers. There are 4 non-expected answers
that are correct:
- Watching television makes you be less intelligent. (4x)

- Watching television makes that you are less intelligent.

- Watching television makes you to be less intelligent.
28
- Watch TV makes you are less intelligent.
ii. No creer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Juan no creía que ellos fueran
criminales. 11 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
which was Juan didn’t believe that they were criminals. There were 9 participants who
produced non-expected answers. There are 8 non-expected answers that are correct:
- Juan didn’t think that they were criminals.
From those 9 non-expected answers, 1 is incorrect because it is ungrammatical

in English:
- Juan didn’t think them to be criminals.
iii. Comprender que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Comprendo que estés enfadado.
17 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I
understand that you are angry. There were 3 participants who produced non-expected
answers. There is 1 non-expected answer that is correct:
- I get that you are angry.

- I understand you to be angry.

- I understand that you were angry.
4.2.2. Verbs of communication

iv. No decir que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No me dijeron que pudieras

cantar ópera. 12 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
29
which was They didn’t tell me that you could sing opera. There were 8 participants who
- I wasn’t told that you could sing opera. (2x)

- I wasn’t told that you were able to sing opera.
- They didn’t tell me that you can sing opera.
This sentence is incorrect because the modal can implies an ability in the present
and, in the Spanish sentence, we cannot find that this person still has the ability to sing
opera, this was something that person could do in the past and not nowadays.
v. No contar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No le contaron que Rosa fuera
homosexual. 11 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
which was They didn’t tell him that Rosa was homosexual. There were 9 participants
who produced non-expected answers. There are 3 non-expected answers that are
correct:
- He wasn`t told that Rosa was homosexual. (2x)

- Nobody told him that Rosa was homosexual.
From those 9 non-expected answers, 6 were incorrect because the verbal tense in
the subordinate clause is incorrectly transferred into English:
- They didn’t tell him that Rosa is homosexual (2x).

- They didn’t tell him that Rosa be homosexual.
- They didn’t tell him that Rosa were homosexual. (3x)
vi. No confesar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No nos confesó que hubiera
matado a su perro. 13 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this
sentence which was He/she didn’t confess to us that he/she had killed his dog. There
30
were 7 participants who produced non-expected answers. There are 4 non-expected
answers that are correct:
- He didn’t confess to us that he had murdered his dog.

- She didn’t confess to us about killing his dog.
- She didn’t confess having killed his dog.
- She didn’t confess to kill his dog.
From those 7 non-expected answers, 3 are incorrect because the verbal tense in
- She didn’t tell us she has killed her dog.

- He didn’t confess to us that he has killed his dog.
- He didn’t confess to us he killed his dog.
4.2.3. Verbs of perception

i. No notar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No notamos que estén estresados.
3 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was We
don’t see that they are stressed. There were 17 participants who produced non-expected
answers. There are 14 non-expected answers that are correct:
- We don’t feel that they are stressed (4x).

- We don’t notice that they are stressed (9x)
- We don’t see them stressed.
From those 17 non-expected answers, 3 are incorrect because the verbal tense in
- We didn’t notice that they were stressed. (3x)
ii. No ver que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No veo que ella esté preocupada.
1 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I
31
don’t think that she is worried. There were 19 participants who produced non-expected
- I don’t see that she is worried. (13x)

- I don’t see her worried (5x)
From those 18 non-expected answers, 1 is incorrect because it doesn’t have the

same meaning as in Spanish, in this case it implies ability more than perception:
- I can’t see she is worried.
iii. Verificar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Verifiqué que todos los pasajeros
estuvieran bien. 8 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
which was I verified that all the passengers were fine. There were 12 participants who
- I checked that all the passengers were well. (10x)

- I made sure that all passengers were fine.
From those 12 non-expected answers, 1 is incorrect because the verbal tense in

- I checked that all passengers are well.
4.2.4. Verbs of volition

i. Querer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Queremos que vuelvan. 5 of the
20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was We want
them back. There were 15 participants who produced non-expected answers. There are
- We want them to come back (12x).

32
- We want that they come back (3x).
ii. Esperar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Espero que Pedro esté durmiendo.
19 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was We
hope that Pedro is sleeping. There was 1 participant who produced a non-expected
answer that was incorrect because the verbal tense in the subordinate clause is
incorrectly transferred into English:
- We hope that Pedro was sleeping.
iii. Intentar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Intentaron que ella llorase. 11 of
the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was They tried
to make her cry. There were 9 participants who produced non-expected answers that are
incorrect because they are ungrammatical:
- They try that she cry. (4x)

- They tried her to cry (4x)
- They tried she to cry
4.2.5. Verbs of influence

i. Decir que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Me dijeron que tocase la guitarra.
4 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was They
asked me to play the guitar. There were 16 participants who produced non-expected
- I was told to play the guitar (3x)

- They told me to play the guitar (12x)
From those 16 non-expected answers, 1 is incorrect because it is ungrammatical:
- They told me I play the guitar.
33
ii. Dejar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Déjale que duerma allí. 13 of the
20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was Let him sleep
there. There were 7 participants who produced non-expected answers. There are 2 non-
- Leave him sleep there.

- Allow him to sleep there.
From those 7 non-expected answers, 5 were incorrect because they are

- Let him to sleep there.(2x)

- Let him sleeping there.(2x)
- Let him that he sleep there.
iii. Obligar a que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Me obligó a que estuviera con él.
6 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was
He/she forced me to be with him. There were 14 participants who produced non-
expected answers that are all correct:
- He forced me to stay with him. (3x)

- He obligated me to be with him. (7x)
- He made me stay with him (2x)
- He obliged me to stay with him (2x)
4.2.6. Verbs of emotion, doubt or judgment

i. No creer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was No creo que sea fea. 17 of the 20
participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I don’t think that
she is ugly. There were 3 participants who produced non-expected answers that are
incorrect because they are ungrammatical in English:
34
- I don’t see her ugly.
- I don’t think that she were ugly.
- I don’t believe that she was ugly.
ii. Alegrar que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Me alegra que dijeras eso. 14 of
the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence which was I am glad
you said that. There were 6 participants who produced non-expected answers. There are
- It makes me happy you said that (2x)

- It makes me happy you told me that.
- I am happy you said that.

- I am happy to told that.

- I am glad you to say that.
iii. Hacer que + subj.
The sentence participants had to translate was Escuchar música hace que te
sientas feliz. 18 of the 20 participants produced the expected answer for this sentence
which was Listening to music makes you feel happy. There were 2 participants who
produced non-expected answers that are incorrect because they are ungrammatical:
- Listening to music makes us feeling good.

- Listen to music makes that you feel happier.
35
5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
The empirical study carried out in this paper about the transfer of the Spanish
subjunctive into English allowed us to obtain a series of conclusions which are based on
two fundamental premises. The first premise is that Spanish university learners of
English have problems when they have to translate from Spanish into English the verb
in the subjunctive mood of subordinate que-clauses. This problem lays on the fact that
English and Spanish behave in a different way with respect to the subjunctive mood.
The second premise is that giving participants information on how to translate the
Spanish subjunctive into English helps them translating this grammatical feature into
English.
These two premises are the base for our conclusions which we present in the
following table. Those conclusions will be briefly commented below.
Table 5. Percentage of correct answers per construction before and after using
the instructions for translating the Spanish subjunctive into English.
SENTENCE Translation Translation IMPROVEMENT PER

task 1 task 2 SENTENCE
1 (hacer que + subj.) 65% (13/20) 85% (17/20) 20%
2 (no contar que + 80% (16/20) 70% (14/20) -10%
subj.)
3 (verificar que + subj.) 85% (17/20) 95% (19/20) 10%
4 (esperar que + subj.) 85% (17/20) 95% (19/20) 10%
5 (decir que + subj.) 85% (17/20) 95% (19/20) 10%
6 (alegrar que + subj.) 80% (16/20) 90% (18/20) 10%
7 (no creer que + subj.) 85% (17/20) 95% (19/20) 10%
8 (no decir que + subj.) 65% (13/20) 75% (15/20) 10%
9 (no ver que + subj.) 50% (10/20) 95% (19/20) 45%
10 (querer que + subj.) 90% (18/20) 85% (17/20) -5%
11 (dejar que + subj.) 80% (16/20) 75% (15/20) -5%
12 (no creer que + 75% (15/20) 85% (17/20) 10%
subj.)
13 (comprender que + 90% (18/20) 90% (18/20) 0%
subj.)
14 (no confesar que + 65% (13/20) 85% (17/20) 20%
subj.)
15 (no notar que + 50% (10/20) 85% (17/20) 35%
subj.)
16 (intentar que + subj.) 70% (14/20) 55% (11/20) -15%
36
17 (obligar a que + 85% (17/20) 100% (20/20) 15%
subj.)
18 (hacer que + subj.) 90% (18/20) 90% (18/20) 0%
TOTAL 76,3% 85,8% 9,5%
IMPROVEMENT
Firstly, the analysis of the results of the first translation task shows that there are
two structures that clearly pose a problem for participants. These structures are No ver
que + subj. and No notar que + subj. The verb of the main clause in both constructions
is a verb of perception.
These two constructions have the lowest percentage of correct answer (50%).
However, in the second translation task, the structures No ver que + subj. and No notar
que + subj. demonstrate a percentage of 95% and 85% of correct answers. Comparing
the first and the second translation task, there is an improvement of 45 % and 35%
percentage respectively which demonstrates that the information on how to translate the
Spanish subjunctive into English has been successful.
There are three constructions in the first translation task that pose problems for
Spanish university learners of English, even though with not such low levels as in the
above mentioned constructions. These three constructions, with a percentage of 65% of
correct answer, are: Hacer que + subj., No decir que + subj. and No confesar que +
subj. Nevertheless, the results of the second translation task show an improvement of
20% in the constructions Hacer que + subj and No confesar que + subj., and a 10% of
improvement in the construction No decir que + subj. Even though data show that there
is a smaller improvement between the first and the second translation task in
comparison with the above mentioned constructions, we can see that again the
systemization was also helpful.
As a counterpoint to the previous examples, we find that there are results in

which there are not an improvement after using the systemization of the subjunctive
mood as a help. On one hand, there are constructions in which there is no improvement.
These constructions are Comprender que + subj. and Hacer que + subj. The two
constructions show a high percentage of correct answers in the first translation task
(90%) in both cases and this percentage was maintained in the second translation task.
This result shows that systemization was not useful in these constructions. On the other
37
hand, there are some constructions in which the percentage of correct answers has
decreased between the first and the second translation task. In this group, we have the
four constructions which are: No contar que + subj., Querer que + subj., Dejar que +
subj. and Intentar que + subj. The decrease in the percentage of correct answers from
the first to the second translation task ranges from -5% to -15%. These results lead us to
believe that either the information was not clear enough or that the information on how
to translate the Spanish subjunctive into English was difficult to understand.
As a conclusion, the results show that between the first and second translation
task, except for minor cases, there is an improvement of 9,5% in the translations
produced by the participants. However, in this paper, we have only initiated the study of
the subjunctive in Spanish in subordinate que-clauses and its equivalence structures in
English. We believe that more research is needed on this subject in order to help
Spanish learners of English improve their English language proficiency with respect to
the translation of the Spanish subjunctive since it posed a challenge for the participants
that took part in this empirical study.
38
6. REFERENCES
Bosque, Ignacio (ed.). Indicativo y subjuntivo. Madrid: Taurus, 1990. Print.
Busch, Hans-Jörg. La enseñanza del subjuntivo en EE.UU.: el subjuntivo en clausulas

nominales. RLA: Revista de lingüística teórica y aplicada, ISSN 0033-698X, Nº
47, 1, 2009. 145-166. Web. 25 March 2016.
Bustos de Tovar, Eduardo. Pragmática del español. Negación, cuantificación y modo.

Madrid: UNED, 1986. Print.
E. Martinell, El subjuntivo. Barcelona, Editorial Coloquio, 1985. Print.
Fente Gómez, Rafael. Estilística del verbo en inglés y en español. Madrid: Sociedad
General Española de Librería, 1971. Print.
Gili Gaya, Samuel. Curso superior de sintaxis española. Barcelona : Biblograf, 1994.
Print.
Hervey, Sándor, Ian Higgins, and Louise M. Haywood. Thinking Spanish Translation:
A Course in Translation Method: Spanish to English. London [etc.]: Routledge,
2004. Print.
Hoye. L. Adverbs and modality in English. London: Longman. 1997. Print.
Ibañez Moreno, Ana and Paloma Hernández Cerezo. "Secondary school students’ errors
when writing in English: analysis of the interaction of age, language level,
linguistic levels and types of error". Hawaii International Conference on Arts
and Humanities, Hawaii, 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Jespersen, Otto. Essentials of English grammar. London: George Allen and Unwin,
1969. Print.
López Rivera, Juan J. El modo: la categoría gramatical y la cuestión modal. Santiago

de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 2002. Print.
Losada Durán, José Ramón. Los tiempos de futuro y la modalidad en español y en

inglés. Vigo: Universidad de Vigo, 2000. Print.
39
Navas Ruiz, Ricardo. El subjuntivo castellano. Teoría y bibliografía crítica. In: Bosque,
Ignacion. Indicativo y subjuntivo. Madrid: Taurus Universitaria, 1990. 107-141.
Print.
Palmer, F. Mood and modality. Cambridge [etc.]: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Print.
Quirk, Randolph and Sidney Greenbaum. A University Grammar of English. London:

Longman, 1998. Print.
Sastre Ruano, María Angeles. El subjuntivo en español. Salamanca: Colegio de España,

1997. Print.
Stockwell, Robert P., J. Donald Bowen, and John W. Martin. The Grammatical
Structures of English and Spanish. Chicago [etc.]: University of Chicago Press,
1965. Print.
Terrell, Tracy & Joan Bybee Hooper. A semantically based analysis of mood in
Spanish. Hispania 57 (3). 484-494. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.
Varela Navarro, Montserrat. Que no te quite el sueño: introducir el subjuntivo en la

clase de ELE. Una propuesta didáctica. MarcoELE, nº 1, 2005. Web. 23 Apr.
2016.
Whitley, M. Stanley. English-Spanish Contrasts: a course in Spanish linguistics.

Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1986. Print.
Zamorano Aguilar, Alfonso. El subjuntivo en la historia de la gramática española

(1771-1973). Madrid: Arco, 2005. Print.
40
7. APPENDIX
Student ID………………………..Name…………………………………………Faculty…………………………………………..
Oxford University Press

and
University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate
Oxford
Placement
Test
Version 1.1
This test is divided into two parts:
Part One (Questions 1 – 40)
Part Two (Questions 41 – 60)

Part 1
Questions 1 – 5
x Where can you see these notices?

x For questions 1 to 5, mark one letter A, B or C on your Answer Sheet.
1 A CROSS BRIDGE FOR in a bank

TRAINS TO EDINBURGH B in a garage
C in a station
2 Please leave your room A in a shop

B in a hotel
key at Reception. in a taxi
C
3
You can look, but don’t A
B
in an office
in a cinema
touch the pictures. C in a museum
CLOSED FOR HOLIDAYS

4 A at a restaurant
Lessons start again on B at a travel agent’s
C at a music school
the 8 th January
5 Price per night: A in a hotel

B at a cinema
£10 a tent C on a camp-site
£5 a person
Questions 6 – 10
x In this section you must choose the word which best fits each space in the text below.
x For questions 6 to 10, mark one letter A, B or C on your Answer Sheet.
Scotland
Scotland is the north part of the island of Great Britain. The Atlantic Ocean is on the west and the
North Sea on the east. Some people (6) .................. Scotland speak a different language called Gaelic.
There are (7) .................. five million people in Scotland, and Edinburgh is (8) .................. most
famous city.
Scotland has many mountains; the highest one is called ‘Ben Nevis’. In the south of Scotland, there are
a lot of sheep. A long time ago, there (9) .................. many forests, but now there are only a
(10) ................... .
Scotland is only a small country, but it is quite beautiful.
6 A in B on C at
7 A among B between C about
8 A your B his C its
9 A is B was C were
10 A little B few C lot

Questions 11 – 20
x In this section you must choose the word which best fits each space in the texts.
x For questions 11 to 20, mark one letter A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.
Alice Guy Blaché
Alice Guy Blaché was the first female film director. She first became involved in cinema whilst
working for the Gaumont Film Company in the late 1890s. This was a period of great change in
the cinema and Alice was the first to use many new inventions, (11) .................. sound and colour.
In 1907 Alice (12) ................... to New York where she started her own film company. She was
(13) .................. successful, but, when Hollywood became the centre of the film world, the best
days of the independent New York film companies were (14) ................... . When Alice died in
1968, hardly anybody (15) .................. her name.
11 A including B bringing C containing D supporting
12 A ran B moved C entered D transported
13 A next B immediately C once D recently
14 A after B down C over D behind
15 A realised B remembered C reminded D repeated

Christopher Columbus and the New World
On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find a new route to India,
China and Japan. At this time most people thought you would fall off the edge of the world if
you sailed too far. Yet sailors such as Columbus had seen how a ship appeared to get lower and
lower on the horizon as it sailed away. For Columbus this (16) ................. that the world was
round. He (17) ................. to his men about the distance travelled each day. He did not want them
to think that he did not (18) ................. exactly where they were going. (19) ................. , on
October
12, 1492, Columbus and his men landed on a small island he named San Salvador. Columbus
believed he was in Asia, (20) ................. he was actually in the Caribbean.
16 A was B pointed C made D proved
17 A asked B told C cheated D lied
18 A find B know C expect D think
19 A Once B Secondly C Finally D Next
20 A as B but C because D if
Questions 21 – 40
x In this section you must choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence.
21 I suggest we ..................... outside the stadium tomorrow at 8.30.
A meeting B meet C met D will meet
22 They spent a lot of time .................... at the pictures in the museum.
A looking B for looking C to look D to looking
23 He spent a long time looking for a tie which .................... with his new shirt.
A fixed B made C went D wore
24 Fortunately, .................... from a bump on the head, she suffered no serious injuries from her
fall.
A other B except C besides D apart
25 I’ve always .................... you as my best friend.
A regarded B thought C meant D supposed
26 The singer ended the concert .................... her most popular song.
A by B with C in D as
27 Whether she’s a good actress or not is a .................... of opinion.
A matter B subject C point D case
28 The decorated roof of the ancient palace was .................... up by four thin columns.
A built B carried C held D supported
29 Don’t make such a ....................! The dentist is only going to look at your teeth.
A fuss B trouble C worry D reaction
30 This form .................... be handed in until the end of the week.
A doesn’t need B doesn’t have C needn’t D hasn’t got
31 The newspaper report contained .................... important information.

A many B another C an D a lot of
32 Although our opinions on many things .................... , we’re good friends.
A differ B oppose C disagree D divide
33 She came to live here .................... a month ago.
A quite B beyond C already D almost
34 If you make a mistake when you are writing, just .................... it out with your pen.
A cross B clear C do D wipe
35 Have you considered .................... to London?
A move B to move C to be moving D moving
36 It can be a good idea for people who lead an active life to increase their .................... of vitamins.
A upturn B input C upkeep D intake
37 You ought to take up swimming for the ..................... of your health.
A concern B relief C sake D cause
38 James was not sure exactly where his best interests ..................... .
A stood B rested C lay D centred
39 Why didn’t you ..................... that you were feeling ill?
A advise B mention C remark D tell
40 He’s still getting .................... the shock of losing his job.
A across B by C over D through

Part 2
Questions 41 – 50
x In this section you must choose the word or phrase which best fits each space in the
texts.
The tallest buildings - SKYSCRAPERS
Nowadays, skyscrapers can be found in most major cities of the world. A building which was many
(41) ……………….. high was first called a skyscraper in the United States at the end of the 19th
century, and New York has perhaps the (42) ……………….. skyscraper of them all, the Empire
State Building. The (43) ……………….. beneath the streets of New York is rock,
(44) ……………….. enough to take the heaviest load without sinking, and is therefore well-suited
to bearing the (45) ……………….. of tall buildings.
41 A stages B storeys C levels D steps
42 A best-known B well-built C top-class D first-rate
43 A dirt B soil C ground D field
44 A stiff B hard C forceful D powerful
45 A scale B size C height D weight

Dublin City Walks
What better way of getting to know a new city than by walking around it?
Whether you choose the Medieval Walk, which will (46) ……………….. you to the Dublin of
1000 years ago, find out about the more (47) ……………….. history of the city on the Eighteenth
Century Walk, or meet the ghosts of Dublin’s many writers on the Literary Walk, we know you will
enjoy the experience.
Dublin City Walks (48) ……………….. twice daily. Meet your guide at 10.30 a.m. or 2.30 p.m. at
the Tourist Information Office. No advance (49) ……………….. is necessary. Special
(50) ……………….. are available for families, children and parties of more than ten people.
46 A introduce B present C move D show
47 A recent B late C near D close
48 A occur B take place C function D work
49 A warning B reserving C paying D booking
50 A funds B costs C fees D rates

Questions 51 – 60
x In this section you must choose the word or phrase which best completes
each sentence.
51 By the time he has finished his week’s work, John has hardly ...................
energy left for the weekend.
A no B much C any D same
52 Roger’s manager ................... to make him stay late if he hadn’t finished the
work.
A insisted B warned C announced D threatened
53 As the game .................... to a close, disappointed spectators started to leave.
A led B drew C approached D

neared
54 Go on, finish the dessert. It needs .................... up because it

won’t stay fresh until tomorrow.
A eat B eating C to eat D eaten
55 I .................... to other people borrowing my books: they always forget to

return them.
A disagree B avoid C dislike D

object
56 This new magazine is .................... with interesting stories and useful

information.
A full B packed C thick D compiled
57 She obviously didn’t want to discuss the matter so I didn’t .................... the
point.
A maintain B chase C follow D

pursue
58 A lot of the views put forward in the documentary were open to .................... .
A enquiry B query C question D wonder
59 The new college .................... for the needs of students with a

variety of learning backgrounds.
A caters B supplies C furnishes D deals
60 We’re not used to ..................... invited to very formal occasions.
A be B have C being D
having
TRANSLATION TASK 1
Nombre y apellidos:
Edad:
Sexo:
Ciudad de procedencia:
Lengua materna:
Traduce estas frases al inglés intentando mantener el significado original. Realiza los
cambios que creas necesarios.
1. Entiendo que estés triste.
___________________________________________________________________
2. No me contaron que tuvieras problemas legales.
___________________________________________________________________
3. Primero verificó que todo estuviera bien.
___________________________________________________________________
4. Esperamos que ella mejore se pronto.
___________________________________________________________________
5. Me dijo que me fuera.
___________________________________________________________________
6. Me alegra que hayan venido.
___________________________________________________________________
7. No creo que ella tenga tiempo.
___________________________________________________________________
8. Marta no me dijo que fueras médico.
___________________________________________________________________
9. No veo que la infección mejore.
___________________________________________________________________
10. Quiero que aprendas.
___________________________________________________________________
11. No permite que su hijo hable así.
___________________________________________________________________
12. No creo que llueva.
___________________________________________________________________
13. Comprendo que no viniera a la fiesta.
___________________________________________________________________
14. No me confesó que estuviera enamorada de él.

___________________________________________________________________
15. No noto que estés cansado.
___________________________________________________________________
16. Intento que suene bien.
___________________________________________________________________
17. Nos obligó a que le leyéramos la novela.
___________________________________________________________________
18. Nos gusta que pidas ayuda.
___________________________________________________________________
INFORMATION ON HOW TO TRANSLATE THE SPANISH SUBJUNCTIVE
MOOD INTO ENGLISH
1) Mental or physical action verbs: hacer, creer, comprender, entender, recordar ...
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + that + complement + clause 2 (inflected verb1)

No creo que ella tenga tiempo → I don’t think that she has time.
EXCEPTION: HACER (to make)
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + that + complement + clause 2 (inflected verb)

El mal tiempo hace que la gente se quede en casa:
Bad weather makes that people stay at home. [
1
“Inflected” means conjugado
Bad weather makes people stay at home. ‫ݲ‬
2) Verbs of communication: decir, contar, confesar, afirmar, comentar …
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + (that) + complement + clause 2 (inflected verb)

Marta no me dijo que fueras médico → Marta didn’t tell me that you were a doctor.
3) Verbs of perception: notar, observar, oír, percibir, sentir, oler, ver …

No noto que estés cansado → I don’t see that you are tired.
4) Verbs of volition: esperar, desear, intentar, negarse a, querer, preferir …

Esperamos que ella se mejore pronto → We hope that she gets better soon.
EXCEPTION: QUERER (to want)
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + that + complement + clause 2 (verb in infinitive form)

Quiero que aprendas:
I want that you to learn. [
I want you to learn. ‫ݲ‬
5) Verbs of influence: pedir, decir, permitir, dejar, prohibir, obligar …
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + complement + clause 2 (verb in infinitive form)

Me dijo que me fuera → He told me to leave.
Me obligó a que le leyera la novel → He forced me to read the novel to him.
EXCEPTION: DEJAR (to let)

STRUCTURE: clause 1 + complement + clause 2 (verb in infinitive without “to”)
Te dejo llamarle:
I let you to call him. [
I let you call him. ‫ݲ‬
6) Verbs of emotion, doubt or judgment: alegrar, doler, encantar, creer, dudar…
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + complement + clause 2 (inflected verb)

No creo que llueva → I don’t think it is going to rain.
Eso hace que me sienta triste → That makes me feel sad.
EXCEPTION: ALEGRAR (to be glad)
STRUCTURE: clause 1 + clause 2 ( inflected verb)

Me alegra que hayan venido:
I am glad that they came. [
I am glad they came. ‫ݲ‬
TRANSLATION TASK 2
Nombre y apellidos:
Traduce estas frases al inglés. Realiza los cambios que creas necesarios.
1. Ver la televisión hace que seas menos inteligente.
___________________________________________________________________
2. No le contaron que Rosa fuera homosexual.
___________________________________________________________________
3. Verifiqué que todos los pasajeros estuvieran bien.
___________________________________________________________________
4. Espero que Pedro esté durmiendo.
___________________________________________________________________
5. Me dijeron que tocase la guitarra.
___________________________________________________________________
6. Me alegra que dijeras eso.
___________________________________________________________________
7. Juan no creía que ellos fueran criminales.
___________________________________________________________________
8. No me dijeron que pudieras cantar ópera.
___________________________________________________________________
9. No veo que ella esté preocupada.
___________________________________________________________________
10. Queremos que ellos vuelvan.
___________________________________________________________________
11. Déjale que duerma allí.
___________________________________________________________________
12. No creo que sea fea.

___________________________________________________________________
13. Comprendo que estés enfadado.
___________________________________________________________________
14. No nos confesó que hubiera matado a su perro.
___________________________________________________________________
15. No notamos que estén estresados.
___________________________________________________________________
16. Intentaron que ella llorase.
___________________________________________________________________
17. Me obligó a que estuviera con él.
___________________________________________________________________
18. Escuchar música hace que te sientas más feliz.
___________________________________________________________________

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FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS

DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA

TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO

Transferring the Spanish Subjunctive Mood into English:

Carla Renata Salvador Dos Santos

Tutora: Leonor Pérez Ruiz

KEYWORDS: subjunctive, translation, English learners, Spanish natives, problems.

El inglés y el español no se comportan de igual manera con respecto al modo

PALABRAS CLAVES: subjuntivo, traducción, estudiantes de inglés, nativos españoles,

This research paper investigates if the Spanish subjunctive is a challenge for

x Do learners have a problem when transferring the Spanish subjunctive into

2. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

In this section, we will provide a theoretical background of the subjunctive mood

2.1. The subjunctive in Spanish

[1] Yo quiero que vayas al parque conmigo

[2] Dudo que Pablo vaya al parque con Pedro

[3] ¡Que viva el rey!

[4] ¡No vayas con él!,

[5] Queremos que viva el rey

[6] No quiero que vayas con él.

2.1.1. The Spanish subjunctive in dependent que-clauses and its equivalent

We have compiled a series of common characteristics that help us understand

[7] Mañana lloverá.

[8] Sé que mañana lloverá.

b) How is the subjunctive formed in Spanish?

Table 1. Correspondence of tenses between the indicative and the subjunctive

An independent clause only has a subject and a predicate:

[9] Juan (subject) juega al fútbol (predicate).

[10] Juan (subject 1) quiere (predicate 1) que su hermano (subject 2) juegue al

d) Types of dependent clauses

The second subgroup contains verbs of communication that make reference to

Group 2 refers to those verbs characterized by wanting someone to do

e) English equivalent structures

Even though it is possible to find constructions with a literal translation in

[11] Es necesario que venga Æ It is necessary that he come.

But it is usually normal to have an indicative in the dependent clause:

[12] No es que no te quiera Æ It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you.

In English, Spanish dependent que-clauses are usually substituted by these

¾ For + subject + to + infinitive:

¾ That clause (verb of the dependent clause inflected)

¾ Constructions were that cannot be used:.

¾ That + subject + to + infinitive:

2.2. The subjunctive in English

There is no need to be much concerned with the subjunctive in English

In English the subjunctive occurs in subordinate clauses in association

Stockwell (1965) gives us a few instances where a subjunctive may be found in

If he were a little older, he’d understand.

I suggest that his name be deleted.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.

Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.

It is necessary that every member inform himself of these rules.

It is necessary that every member should inform himself of these rules.

It is necessary for every member to inform himself of these rules.

The second category is the formulaic subjunctive. This type of subjunctive, as

Come what may, we will go ahead

God save the Queen

If she was/were to do something like that, …

He spoke to me as if I was/were deaf

2.3. Differences in the expression of the English and Spanish subjunctive.