Opiniones - Opinions, Doubts, and Wishes
Es Importante Que, Es Mejor Que - Impersonal Recommendations
The first three lessons covered three of the four major subjunctive trigger groups: doubt, desire, and future-time clauses. This last lesson covers the fourth: impersonal expressions of value or recommendation. Es importante que estudies. Es mejor que vayas pronto. Hace falta que descanses. These are the workhorses of Spanish advice-giving — softer than an imperative (estudia, ve, descansa) and more polished than deberías from M12. By the end of this lesson, you'll have the full set of polite-recommendation tools and you'll know which impersonals trigger subjunctive and which stay in indicative.
The Pattern — Es + Adjective + Que + Subjunctive
The basic shape of an impersonal recommendation is:
Es + adjective + que + subjunctive
| Trigger | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| es importante que | Es importante que estudies. | It's important that you study. |
| es necesario que | Es necesario que vengas. | It's necessary that you come. |
| es mejor que | Es mejor que descanses. | It's better that you rest. |
| es bueno que | Es bueno que comas verduras. | It's good that you eat vegetables. |
| es malo que | Es malo que fumes. | It's bad that you smoke. |
| es lógico que | Es lógico que estés cansado. | It's logical that you're tired. |
| es raro que | Es raro que llegue tarde. | It's strange that he's late. |
| es probable que | Es probable que llueva. | It's probable that it'll rain. |
| es posible que | Es posible que vengan. | It's possible that they'll come. |
A useful pattern note: the trigger is the value judgement (importante, mejor, lógico, raro, probable). Spanish reads these as expressing the speaker's attitude toward the second clause, not asserting a fact about it — and that flips the second clause into subjunctive.
The Exception — Es + Adjective of Certainty + Que + Indicative
When the impersonal expression communicates certainty rather than value, it stays in indicative. Compare:
| Indicative (certainty) | Subjunctive (value) |
|---|---|
| Es verdad que estudias mucho. It's true you study a lot. | Es bueno que estudies mucho. It's good that you study a lot. |
| Es evidente que tiene razón. It's clear he's right. | Es lógico que tenga razón. It's logical that he's right. |
| Es seguro que viene. It's certain he's coming. | Es probable que venga. It's probable he'll come. |
| Está claro que está cansado. It's clear he's tired. | Es normal que esté cansado. It's normal that he's tired. |
The pattern: es verdad / es evidente / es seguro / es obvio / está claro all assert that something is the case. They take indicative. Everything else in this neighbourhood — value judgements, possibilities, reactions — takes subjunctive.
A small dual list to memorise:
Indicative triggers (assertion): es verdad que, es evidente que, es claro que, es obvio que, es seguro que, es cierto que.
Subjunctive triggers (value or possibility): es importante que, es necesario que, es mejor que, es bueno que, es malo que, es lógico que, es raro que, es normal que, es probable que, es posible que, hace falta que, basta con que.
When negated, the indicative ones flip — like no creo que from Lesson 1:
- Es verdad que viene. It's true he's coming. (indicative)
- No es verdad que venga. It's not true he's coming. (subjunctive)
Más Vale Que — The Friendly "You'd Better"
A specifically Iberian high-frequency phrase: más vale que ("you'd better"). Always followed by subjunctive. It's softer than English "you'd better" — closer to "the better thing would be" — and Spaniards use it across the day:
- Más vale que estudies. You'd better study.
- Más vale que vayamos pronto. We'd better go early.
- Más vale que no te enfades. You'd better not get angry.
- Más vale prevenir que curar. Better safe than sorry. (proverb, infinitive form)
A close cousin: convendría que ("it would be advisable that") is the condicional version, more formal:
- Convendría que llegáramos pronto. It would be advisable that we arrive early.
Stacking with the Condicional from M12
Module 12 taught the condicional for politeness. You can stack it onto the impersonal pattern for an extra-polite recommendation. Sería mejor que + imperfect subjunctive is the formula:
- Sería mejor que descansaras. It would be better if you rested.
- Sería bueno que viniera Pedro. It would be good if Pedro came.
- No estaría mal que estudiaras un poco. It wouldn't be bad if you studied a bit.
The imperfect subjunctive (descansaras, viniera, estudiaras) is technically beyond this module — recognise it for now, produce it next quarter. The sería mejor que opener is your tell-me-what-to-do phrase for any delicate situation: bossing a colleague, advising a friend through a breakup, suggesting your boss change a deadline.
Hace Falta Que — The Spanish-from-Spain Workhorse
A particularly Iberian phrase: hace falta que ("it's needed that"). This shows up in Spain far more than in Latin America, which prefers es necesario que. Always subjunctive:
- Hace falta que descanses. You need to rest.
- Hace falta que vayamos pronto. We need to go early.
- No hace falta que vengas. You don't need to come.
The negation no hace falta que is one of the most useful release-pressure phrases in Spanish — it's how a Spaniard tells you not to bother with something without sounding ungrateful.
Practice
Words to Remember
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| es importante que | it's important that |
| es necesario que | it's necessary that |
| es mejor que | it's better that |
| es bueno que | it's good that |
| es malo que | it's bad that |
| es lógico que | it's logical that |
| es raro que | it's strange that |
| es normal que | it's normal that |
| es probable que | it's probable that |
| es posible que | it's possible that |
| hace falta que | it's needed that |
| no hace falta que | there's no need to |
| más vale que | you'd better |
| basta con que | it's enough that |
| es verdad que | it's true that |
| es evidente que | it's clear that |
| es seguro que | it's certain that |
| sería mejor que | it would be better that |
| convendría que | it would be advisable that |
| no estaría mal que | it wouldn't be bad if |
Conversation
Caring for a sick friend
María: Lucía lleva todo el día con fiebre. Lucía has had a fever all day.
Diego: Es mejor que la dejes descansar. It's better that you let her rest.
María: Pero hace falta que coma algo, ¿no? But she needs to eat something, right?
Talking about a stressed colleague
Carmen: Pablo está hecho polvo últimamente. Pablo's been wrecked lately.
Javi: Es lógico que esté cansado, currar tantas horas. It's logical that he's tired, working so many hours.
Carmen: Más vale que se tome unos días. He'd better take a few days off.
Suggesting a friend get exercise
Sofía: Llevo semanas sin moverme del sofá. I haven't moved from the sofa for weeks.
Lucía: Es importante que hagas un poco de ejercicio. It's important that you do a bit of exercise.
Sofía: Tienes razón. Sería bueno que saliera a andar. You're right. It would be good if I went out for a walk.
Practice
Recall
Type the Spanish for each English meaning. Leave a row blank if you draw a blank — that counts as a miss.
Practice
Translation Exercise
Translate each English sentence into Spanish.
Cultural Note
Impersonal expressions are how educated Spaniards give advice without sounding preachy. Saying deberías descansar to a friend is fine, but es mejor que descanses shifts the recommendation away from a personal command toward a shared observation — "the better thing would be to rest" rather than "you should rest." The mood of the verb does the social work. Spanish doesn't have "please" the way English does; it uses the subjunctive to soften.
The Iberian hace falta que deserves a spotlight. In Spain it's the default for "we need to" or "you need to" — hace falta que hablemos, hace falta que vayas pronto, no hace falta que te quedes. Latin Americans tend to prefer es necesario que or just necesitamos que, but in Madrid you'll hear hace falta all day. It pairs especially well with the negative: no hace falta is the polite "don't bother" of Castilian conversation.
A small register tip for advice-giving in Spain: Spaniards layer their softeners. A good sentence might run yo creo que tal vez sería mejor que descansaras un rato — five hedges in a row to deliver one piece of advice. This isn't fluff; it's the social grammar of "I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just thinking out loud with you." Once you can stack three softeners without flinching (yo creo que es mejor que...), your Spanish stops sounding blunt and starts sounding like a friend giving advice.