Emotions (Alegrarse de que, Sentir que) | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

The E in WEIRDO stands for emotions. Whenever the main clause expresses how the speaker feels about an action or situation, the dependent clause takes the subjunctive — even though the action itself may be factually true. The logic is that Spanish highlights the emotional reaction rather than the action itself.

Common Emotion Triggers

Spanish	English
alegrarse de que	to be glad that
estar contento/a de que	to be happy that
sentir que	to feel sorry that / to regret that
lamentar que	to regret that
temer que	to fear that
tener miedo de que	to be afraid that
sorprender que	to surprise (someone) that
gustar que	to like that
molestar que	to bother (someone) that
encantar que	to love / delight that

All of these follow the same pattern: [emotion expression] + que + [subjunctive verb].

The Subject Change Rule Still Applies

Just as with wishes, the subjunctive requires different subjects in the main and dependent clauses. When the subject is the same, Spanish uses an infinitive preceded by the appropriate preposition (often de).

Me alegro de estar aquí.

I'm glad to be here.

Same subject → infinitive.

Me alegro de que estés aquí.

I'm glad you're here.

Different subjects → subjunctive.

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The key test: is "I" feeling an emotion about what "I" am doing, or about what someone else is doing? If the latter, use que + subjunctive.

Alegrarse de que

Alegrarse de que is the most common expression of happiness. Note the preposition de before que.

Me alegro de que hayas venido a visitarnos.

I'm glad you've come to visit us.

Nos alegramos de que te sientas mejor.

We're glad you feel better.

Sentir que

Sentir has two meanings: "to feel" (literal sensation) and "to regret" (emotional). When it means "to regret," it takes the subjunctive.

Siento mucho que estés enfermo.

I'm very sorry you're sick.

Sentimos que no puedan acompañarnos esta vez.

We're sorry you can't join us this time.

Note: when sentir means "to feel" something physical or sensory (as in siento frío), it takes no subjunctive clause at all — it's a different construction.

Temer que and Tener Miedo de que

Both temer and tener miedo de que express fear, with temer sounding a bit more formal and tener miedo more colloquial.

Temo que haya un malentendido entre ellos.

I fear there's a misunderstanding between them.

Tengo miedo de que se pierdan en la ciudad.

I'm afraid they'll get lost in the city.

Verbs of the Gustar Family

A huge class of emotion verbs follows the gustar pattern, meaning the grammatical subject is the thing that causes the feeling, and the person feeling it appears as an indirect object pronoun. These verbs all take the subjunctive when followed by que.

(A mí) me gusta que...
(A ti) te molesta que...
(A él) le encanta que...
(A nosotros) nos sorprende que...
(A ellas) les fastidia que...

Me gusta que mi familia me visite los domingos.

I like that my family visits me on Sundays.

A mi hermano le molesta que yo cante en la ducha.

It bothers my brother that I sing in the shower.

Nos sorprende que ellos hablen tan bien el inglés.

It surprises us that they speak English so well.

Me encanta que hagas la cena esta noche.

I love that you're making dinner tonight.

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Remember that in the gustar-family, the grammatical subject is the thing the emotion is about, not the person feeling it. Me gusta que cantes literally means "that you sing pleases me," which is why the verb gustar stays in its third-person form.

Emotions About Facts

One interesting aspect of emotion triggers: they take the subjunctive even when the action described is objectively true. For example, if I know that you are here, I still say Me alegro de que estés aquí, because Spanish is highlighting my emotional reaction, not the factual truth of your being here.

Me alegra que tengamos un día libre hoy.

I'm glad we have a day off today.

Even though having the day off is a fact, the subjunctive is used because the main clause is an emotion.

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This is one of the clearest differences between the indicative and subjunctive: indicative reports facts, subjunctive expresses attitudes toward facts. Emotion triggers belong firmly to the second category.

Continue to impersonal expressions, another high-frequency subjunctive trigger.