Reference · module 27
Holding a conversation
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Saying what you think
State an opinion and choose the right mood.
- Creo que and me parece que take the indicative: Creo que tienes razón. Negate them and the subjunctive arrives.
- To open more formally: En mi opinión, Desde mi punto de vista, Yo diría que. All take the indicative.
- es que explains or excuses: No voy, es que estoy cansado. It softens what would otherwise be blunt.
The mistake you are about to make
No creo que tienes razón.
No creo que tengas razón.
Creo que tienes razón is right, so the negative looks like a simple add-on. No creo brings the subjunctive.
Agreeing and disagreeing
Take a side without being rude.
- estar de acuerdo con somebody, en algo: Estoy de acuerdo contigo. The de and the con are both fixed.
- Disagreement is softened first: Ya, pero. Sí, aunque. No estoy tan seguro. A bare No is heard as blunt.
- To agree with a statement: Yo también after a positive, Yo tampoco after a negative, A mí sí to disagree with a negative.
The mistake you are about to make
Estoy de acuerdo a ti.
Estoy de acuerdo contigo.
"Agree with you" has with, and it still becomes a. Agreeing with a person is con: contigo.
Aunque and the concession
Concede a point and keep your own.
- aunque with the indicative concedes a fact: Aunque es caro, lo compro. The price is known and admitted.
- With the subjunctive it concedes a possibility: Aunque sea caro, lo compro. It may or may not be expensive.
- a pesar de takes a noun or an infinitive: A pesar del precio. A pesar de saberlo. Never a full clause on its own.
The mistake you are about to make
A pesar de es caro.
A pesar de que es caro.
A pesar de takes a noun directly, so a clause gets attached the same way. A clause needs de que.
Keeping the floor
Interrupt, hesitate and come back to the point.
- To fill a pause: bueno, pues, o sea, es decir, la verdad es que. They buy a second without sounding lost.
- To interrupt: Perdona que te interrumpa. Solo una cosa. ¿Puedo decir algo?
- To come back: Como te decía, Volviendo al tema, En resumen. All three signal that a digression is over.
The mistake you are about to make
Perdona que te interrumpo.
Perdona que te interrumpa.
It feels like a statement of fact. It is a request to be excused, and perdona que takes the subjunctive.