3.6.6 The Subjunctive in Noun clauses

The next kind of clause we will examine is the noun clause.  A noun clause is a clause that functions as a noun.  Again, let’s see some examples from English and then Spanish.

English:

1. I like pizza
   1. Pizza is a noun.  It’s a person, place or thing.
2. I like pizza with lots of vegetables.
   1. The underlined words are the noun clause.  There are more words in the sentence that describe the pizza.

Spanish:

1. Me gusta la pizza.
   1. Pizza is still a noun, it is still a person, place or thing in Spanish.
2. Me gusta la pizza con muchas verduras.
   1. The underlined words are a noun clause because the adjectives are describing the pizza.

Subjunctive in noun clauses.

1. When we want to describe a noun with subjectivity, we use the subjunctive in Spanish.  Let’s see an example:
   1. Me gusta que la pizza tenga muchas verduras.

How is this sentence different from “Me gusta la pizza con muchas verduras”?

1. Form, form, form.
2. When “que” is introduced into the sentence, it becomes a dependent clause.  Remember, the sentence structure is always question 1 when dealing with the subjunctive.  Meaning is the second question!

We have lots of examples of this kind of clause in previous readings:

1. El delantal blanco: “​​Él dice que quiere que el niño aproveche las vacaciones”
2. Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú: “Entonces los niños, con el tanto calor y tanto sudar y hambre y todo, exigen que se les compre un dulcito.”
3. La naturaleza no es muda:  “Se propone que el Estado reconozca y garantice el derecho a mantener y regenerar los ciclos vitales naturales”

There are lots of meanings that are expressed in noun clauses and you may have learned an acronym in the past to help you remember these forms.  Two common ones are:

1. U-WEIRDO (Uncertainty, Wants, Emotions, Impersonal (Expressions), Doubt, Orders)
2. WEDDING (Wish, Emotion, Doubt, Desire, Impersonal (Expressions), Negation, Guilt)

What are some of the common words that fall into these categories?

Uncertainty/Doubt: No creer que, Puede ser que, Dudar que

Wishes/Wants/Desires: Querer que, Necesitar que, Urgir que, Esperar que, Desear que

Emotions: Temer que, Sentir que, Lamentar que

There are also a lot of emotions that are “verbs like gustar”.  This would be Me gusta, Me alegra, Me molesta, Me fastidia, Me sorprende, etc.  When the following verb is introduced by a que then you are going to need to use the subjunctive.  See the above example.

Impersonal Expressions: Es normal que, Es posible que, Es imposible que, Es importante que

Orders: these are sometimes called implied commands and sometimes called exhortative sentences.  

These can be useful to remember what kinds of things are expressed using the subjunctive with noun clauses but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that “this is the rule for the subjunctive”.  You always need to go back to the sentence structure and then apply any rules about meaning.