Breakdown of Puede que algunas personas no estén de acuerdo con la manifestación, pero respetan que otros hablen de política en la calle.
Questions & Answers about Puede que algunas personas no estén de acuerdo con la manifestación, pero respetan que otros hablen de política en la calle.
Puede que literally comes from puede (ser) que…, and it’s a very common way to say “it may be that…” / “it could be that…” / “maybe…”.
Because it expresses possibility, doubt, or uncertainty, it always triggers the subjunctive in the clause that follows:
- Puede que algunas personas no estén de acuerdo…
= It may be that some people don’t agree… / Some people may not agree…
You cannot say ✗ puede que algunas personas no están de acuerdo; that would sound incorrect to native speakers. With puede que, use the present subjunctive (estén) for present-time meaning.
Yes, you can replace Puede que with other expressions of possibility:
- Es posible que algunas personas no estén de acuerdo…
- Quizás algunas personas no estén de acuerdo…
- Tal vez algunas personas no estén de acuerdo…
All of these are natural in Latin American Spanish.
Subjunctive use:
- Es posible que → normally followed by subjunctive (no estén).
- Quizás / Tal vez → can take either indicative or subjunctive; with subjunctive, the idea of doubt/uncertainty is stronger.
Nuance:
- Puede que and Es posible que feel a bit more formal / explicit.
- Quizás / Tal vez are shorter, more conversational, like “maybe”.
Meaning-wise, in this sentence they’re all very close.
The choice is determined by Puede que.
- Puede que = “it may be that / maybe”, which expresses uncertainty.
- Expressions of doubt, possibility, or uncertainty require the subjunctive in the clause after que.
So we get:
- Puede que
- subjunctive → no estén de acuerdo
If you wanted to use the indicative no están de acuerdo, you would have to change the structure to something that states a fact, not a possibility:
- Algunas personas no están de acuerdo con la manifestación, pero…
(Some people do not agree with the demonstration, but…)
In short: Puede que → subjunctive (estén), not indicative (están).
In Spanish, “to agree (with someone/something)” is normally expressed with the fixed phrase:
- estar de acuerdo (con…) = to agree (with…)
Examples:
- Estoy de acuerdo contigo. = I agree with you.
- No estamos de acuerdo con la decisión. = We don’t agree with the decision.
The verb acordar mostly means “to decide / to agree on (a plan)” or “to arrange”, and very often it’s used reflexively:
- Acordamos reunirnos mañana. = We agreed to meet tomorrow.
- Se acordó que… = It was agreed that…
So “agree with an opinion” is estar de acuerdo con, not acordar con.
That’s why the sentence has no estén de acuerdo con la manifestación.
The standard structure is:
- estar de acuerdo con + someone/something
The preposition “con” introduces the thing or person you agree (or disagree) with:
- Estoy de acuerdo contigo. = I agree with you.
- No están de acuerdo con la propuesta. = They don’t agree with the proposal.
So in the sentence:
- no estén de acuerdo con la manifestación
= do not agree with the demonstration
You cannot drop con here: ✗ no estén de acuerdo la manifestación is incorrect.
No. This is a classic false friend.
In Spanish, la manifestación (in this political context) means:
- a public demonstration / a protest / a march
So the sentence is talking about a political protest or demonstration in the street.
In English, “manifestation” is not the usual word for a protest; we would say “demonstration” or “protest”.
So you should understand la manifestación here as “the (street) demonstration / the protest”.
After verbs that express attitudes, evaluation, or feelings toward actions (like respect, like, hate, etc.), Spanish often uses the subjunctive in the que + clause:
- Respetan que otros hablen de política…
= They respect that others talk about politics…
Here, respetar que + subjunctive focuses on the idea or action itself, and the speaker’s attitude toward it.
Using the indicative hablan (✗ respetan que otros hablan) is not grammatical in standard Spanish in this construction. Native speakers expect the subjunctive (hablen) after respetan que.
So the triggers:
- Puede que → estén (subjunctive)
- Respetan que → hablen (subjunctive)
It mainly expresses tolerance / respect, not formal permission.
- respetan que otros hablen de política
= they respect (they are okay with / they accept) that others talk about politics
It suggests they may not like the demonstration, but they acknowledge and respect other people’s right to talk about politics in public. It doesn’t sound like a legal permission; it’s more about attitude and tolerance.
In Spanish, otros can be used as a pronoun, not just as an adjective. That means it can replace a full noun phrase (like otras personas / otras personas que están allí).
In context:
- respetan que otros hablen de política
Here otros clearly means “other people”.
This is similar to English using “others” without finishing the phrase:
- Some people may not agree with the protest, but they respect that *others talk about politics in the street.*
So otros = otras personas / otras personas que no son ellos = other people (not them).
Both are possible, but hablar de is the most common everyday way to say “talk about”:
- hablar de política = talk about politics
- hablar de fútbol = talk about soccer
- hablar de trabajo = talk about work
hablar sobre can also be used and is often a bit more formal or specific, like “to speak on / to give a talk on” a topic:
- Mañana voy a dar una charla sobre política internacional.
= Tomorrow I’m going to give a talk on international politics.
In this sentence, hablar de política is the natural, conversational choice for “talk about politics”.
In Spanish, en la calle (singular) is the standard expression to mean:
- “in the street” / “out on the street” / “in public (on the street)”
It refers to the street as a type of public space, not to a specific single street.
Examples:
- Hay mucha gente en la calle. = There are many people out on the street.
- No me gusta hablar de eso en la calle. = I don’t like talking about that out in the street.
Using en las calles (in the streets) is also possible, but it usually emphasizes multiple different streets or a more literal image, for example:
- La manifestación se extendió por las calles del centro.
= The demonstration spread through the streets of downtown.
Here, en la calle is the idiomatic, general phrase for “out in the street”.
Yes, Spanish allows you to swap the order of the two clauses, keeping pero:
- Respetan que otros hablen de política en la calle, pero puede que algunas personas no estén de acuerdo con la manifestación.
This is grammatically fine. The meaning is basically the same, although the focus changes slightly:
- Original: First you highlight that some people may not agree, then you contrast that with their respect for others’ speech.
- Reordered: First you highlight that they respect others talking about politics, then you point out that some may not agree with the protest.
Both are natural; it’s just a matter of emphasis.