Word
No es que esté en contra del divorcio, es que me parece triste cuando una pareja deja de hablarse.
Meaning
It’s not that I’m against divorce, it’s that it seems sad to me when a couple stops talking to each other.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of No es que esté en contra del divorcio, es que me parece triste cuando una pareja deja de hablarse.
una
a
estar
to be
triste
sad
cuando
when
Questions & Answers about No es que esté en contra del divorcio, es que me parece triste cuando una pareja deja de hablarse.
Why is the verb esté in the subjunctive and not estoy?
The structure no es que + subjunctive is a fixed, common pattern in Spanish.
It’s used to introduce a clarification, usually denying or softening an idea that someone might be assuming.
Could you say No estoy en contra del divorcio, es que… instead? What’s the difference?
Yes, No estoy en contra del divorcio, es que… is grammatically correct, but the nuance changes:
- No estoy en contra del divorcio... is a direct statement: I’m not against divorce.
- No es que esté en contra del divorcio... is more like: It’s not that I’m (exactly) against divorce...
The no es que + subjunctive form sounds softer and more indirect, as if you’re responding to or correcting an assumed idea rather than making a flat statement.
What does es que mean here? It doesn’t sound natural if I literally say “it is that” in English.