“Busco a alguien que hable inglés”
CEFR B1 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
“Si tuviera tiempo…”Building the three conditional patterns, and above all the unreal one: “si” plus…“Es aburrido” is not “está aburrido”The adjectives whose meaning changes with the verb: “aburrido”, “listo”, “rico”…False friends: “embarazada” is not embarrassedThe words that look like an English word and mean something else: “embarazada”…“Dijo que…”: reporting what somebody saidTurning direct speech into “dijo que…”, moving the tense, the person, the possessives…“Tan”, “tanto”, “tal”: one “so”, three wordsUsing “tan” with adjectives and adverbs, “tanto” with verbs and nouns —agreeing— and…“Ser” or “estar”: two verbs for one “to be”Choosing between “ser” and “estar” in everyday sentences: who you are and what you are…The rule, in three lines
After que, the mood tells you whether the thing EXISTS for you: tengo un amigo que habla inglés (I know him) against busco un amigo que hable inglés (I have not found him yet). And after a negative it is always subjunctive: no hay nadie que lo sepa.
The usual slip. Using the indicative always, because English does not mark this anywhere.
Why it catches you out. English says “someone who SPEAKS English” with the same verb form whether you know them or not, so nothing warns you that Spanish sees two different sentences. The question that works: do I know who this is? If not, subjunctive.