I believe that a couple of the examples used are commands (Imperatives), not subjunctive. Please clarify. Thanks
¿Dígame? - Hola, ¿puedo hablar con Juan?[on the phone, lit: speak to me] Hello? - Hello, may I speak to Juan?
The example that you mention with "Dígame" is using the present subjunctive form "diga". It is a direct command but when we use the "usted" form, which is the case of "diga" we need to conjugate the verb in the present subjunctive.
If we gave a command informally using the tú form, then you´d need the Imperative form. See the difference here:
Talking to a friend:
"Dime lo que Laura te dijo ayer" (Tell me what Laura told you yesterday)
Talking to a client:
"Dígame su dirección y le enviaré los documentos" (Tell me your address and I will send you the documents.)
The second is used formally. In this case, the form used is the present subjunctive.(diga)
You will find all the information here. Have a look.
Hope it helps
Ok. I get it. Without arguing semantics, I think it
might be a benefit to the students, like me, to say these particular forms are
formed or conjugated the same, but that the examples are commands, not
subjunctive. The title of the grammar being discussed is "Conjugate
yo-go verbs in El Presente de Subjuntivo" making me believe we are
learning about the subjunctive, and the examples would be subjunctives, not
imperatives, which work very differently. You would not add pronouns to
the ends of the present subjunctive, but rather commands. Honestly, I am just
trying to be helpful. Thank you for all you do!
Re: "examples used are commands (Imperatives), not subjunctive."discussion
Would it be correct to assume that using the Subjunctive in the case of "usted" is a form of politeness?
If that is correct, I will scream "alleluia"!
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