Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

ASKING AND GIVING OPINIONS 55.1¿Cree usted/crees tú que + subjunctive or indicative? ‘Do youthink . . . ?’The choice between present subjunctive and present indicative after ¿Cree usted/creestú que . . . ? depends on the degree of doubt involved. By and large, however, thepresent subjunctive is more common than the indicative. 18.1.5 (p. 85)No sé si llevar el rojo o el azul. ¿Qué crees tú?I don’t know whether to take the red or the blue one. What do youthink?¿Qué cree usted que podemos hacer?What do you think we can do?¿Crees tú que él sea/es la persona indicada?Do you think he’s the right person?55.1.3Opinar, pensarOpinar and pensar, ‘to think’, are normally found in the following constructions:¿Qué opina/piensa usted? ‘What do you think?’¿Qué opinas/piensas tú de/sobre . . . ? ‘What do you think of/about . . . ?’No sé si decírselo o no. ¿Qué opinas/piensas tú?I don’t know whether to tell him/her or not. What do you think?¿Qué opina/piensa usted de ella?What do you think of her?55.1.4¿Cuál es su/tu opinión?This phrase, similar in meaning to the English phrase ‘What’s your opinion?’, is muchless frequent than the equivalent English expression, and it tends to be used in moreformal contexts. When asking for an opinion, most Spanish speakers will use one of theexpressions above, especially the ones with parecer and creer.¿Cuál es su opinión al respecto?What is your opinion of this?¿Cuál es su opinión sobre este proyecto?What is your opinion about this project? 12.2 (p. 49)Me/nos gustaría or quisiera/quisiéramos conocer su opinión . . .55.1.5320Like the phrase in 55.1.4 above, these expressions with gustar and querer, meaning ‘I/we would like to know your opinion’, are less common than the ones which actuallycarry verbs of thinking like parecer or creer, and they tend to be restricted to moreformal contexts.