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Adverbial clauses with aunque: Known information vs. unknown information

Knowing that adverbial clauses with aunque take both the indicative and subjunctive is half the battle. The other half is knowing which to use when. Fortunately, Angela has a helpful way to remember when, based on whether or not the information she says is known or unknown to the person she's addressing.

When Angela talks to her friend, María, she keeps the following in mind:

Angela tells María that even though she’s scared, she’ll jump.  It’s news to María that Angela was scared, so the indicative, tengo, is used.

In this case, María already knows that Angela is scared.  It's old news to María, so the subjunctive (in this case, tenga) is used.

 

 

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