Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Te asombra que ella corra tan rápido?

¿Te asombra que ella corra tan rápido?

Does it amaze you that she runs so fast?

Breakdown of ¿Te asombra que ella corra tan rápido?

Questions & Answers about ¿Te asombra que ella corra tan rápido?

Why do we use the subjunctive corra instead of the normal present tense corre?

The verb asombrar (to amaze or surprise) expresses an emotion. When you express an emotion about what someone else does, Spanish requires the second verb to be in the subjunctive. Because the subject changes from the situation doing the amazing to ella after the word que, correr becomes corra.

Why does the sentence start with Te asombra instead of using the pronoun tú?

Asombrar works just like the verb gustar. Instead of saying "You are amazed by it", Spanish phrases it as "It amazes you." The word Te is an indirect object pronoun meaning "to you," and the entire second half of the sentence (that she runs so fast) acts as the grammatical subject causing the amazement.

Since we are talking about ella, shouldn't it be tan rápida?

In this sentence, rápido is acting as an adverb describing how she runs, rather than an adjective describing her. Adverbs never change their gender or number, so it always stays rápido. If you wanted to describe her directly, you would use the adjective and say ella es tan rápida (she is so fast).

Could I use the verb sorprender instead of asombrar here?