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parece que + subjuntivo |
Learners of Spanish are often taught that after parece que the verb goes in indicative, and after no parece que in subjunctive. However, this is not always the case: parece que is quite often followed by the subjunctive.
1) The use of the subjunctive, as is often the case, implies doubt or disbelief, so the meaning changes from roughly "it looks/seems like" to "it is/seems as though/if". Note that in everyday Spanish the indicative would be used in the vast majority of cases.
"Se ha observado que, usado sin complemento indirecto y con subjuntivo, el verbo 'parecer' muestra una fuerte tendencia a inducir la interpretación contrafáctica, de forma que 'Parece que sea/fuera de día' implica 'No es de día'". RAE
"También se usa subjuntivo en vez de indicativo, en casos en que no hay negación, con intención estilística de acentuar la irrealidad: «Parecía que lloviesen estrellas fugaces» (Cunqueiro, Fanto Fantini, 157). Es una expresividad semejante a la que se consigue con parece 'como si + subjuntivo' [...]". Diccionario de Dudas, Manuel Seco
1.a) Parece que son oposiciones (creemos que es así) — They look like/appear to be exams to work in the public sector
1.b) Parece que sean oposiciones (duda, no lo creemos ) — They look/seem like exams to work in the public sector (but we don't think they are) [More common in Spain]
1.c) Parece que fueran oposiciones (sabemos que no lo son) — It's as though they were exams to work in the public sector (they definitely aren't) [More common in Latin America]
However, as noted in A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, this is not rigid: "[...] one could say parece que Silvia está (or esté) en otro planeta - 'it seems as though Silvia is on another planet'; obviously she isn't."2
In other words, if in doubt you can nearly always use the indicative or, if talking about unreal situations, you might consider using the construction ser/parecer como si, e.g. 'es/parece como si estuviera en otro planeta'.
Additionally:
2) When used with the indirect object pronoun, only the indicative is possible in affirmative sentences.3
-Me parece que hay mucho paro — I think there is a lot of unemployment
→No me parece que haya mucho paro — I don't think there is a lot of unemployment
3) In interrogative sentencess, '¿te parece que...?' takes the indicative except when it means '¿te parece bien que...?' where bien is omitted - this construction is used more in conversational Spanish.4
- a) ¿Te parece que hay que mucho paro? — Do you think there's a lot of unemployment?
-b) ¿Te parece que vayamos al cine? — Is it all right with you if we go to the cinema? [≈¿Te parece bien/buena idea que vayamos?]
→Luego podríamos ir al cine, si te parece — We could go to the cinema later, if that's all right with you [≈Si te parece bien]
4) '¿No te parece que...?' in interrogative takes the indicative. In this case, just like English, the negation is merely used to ask for confirmation of the something the speaker believes to be true.
-¿No te parece que hay mucho paro? — Don't you think there's a lot of unemployment? [≈Hay mucho paro, ¿no te parece?]
5) After '¿qué te/le parece que...?' in interrogative we use subjunctive. When used in the conditional, both que and si are possible to link to the subordinate clause, where the past subjunctive is used, but with a slight difference in meaning –see que/si condicional.
-¿Qué te parece que haya tanto paro? — What do you think about there being so much unemployment?
-¿Qué te parecería que/si tus hijos fueran víctimas de acoso? — What would you think if your children were victims of bullying?
6) As discussed previously, following the construction (me/te/le) parece+ adjetivo/sustantivo que the choice of mode is dependent on the adjective or noun: words of certainty (relatively few) take the indicative; all other adjectives or nouns induce the subjunctive.
-Me parece obvio/una obviedad que hay demasiado paro — It seems obvious to me that there is too much unemployment
-Me parece mal que haya tanto paro — So much unemployment seems wrong to me
-Me parece lógico que haya tanto paro — It makes sense that there's so much unemployment [Remember: the adjectives 'lógico', 'natural' and 'normal' are value judgments]
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