Breakdown of ¿Podría aconsejarle a la empresa que cambie la norma?
a
to
poder
to be able to / can
que
that / than
le
to him / to her / to you (formal)
la empresa
the company
cambiar
to change
aconsejar
to advise
la norma
the rule (norm)
Questions & Answers about ¿Podría aconsejarle a la empresa que cambie la norma?
Why does this sentence use que cambie instead of the infinitive cambiar like in English ("to change")?
In English, we usually use an infinitive after verbs of influence ("advise the company to change"). In Spanish, when one person is trying to influence the actions of a different person or entity, you cannot use the infinitive. Instead, you must use que followed by a conjugated verb. Since "you" are doing the advising and "the company" is doing the changing, the subjects are different, which requires que cambie.
Why is cambie in the subjunctive mood here?
Because it follows a verb of influence! Aconsejar (to advise) is used to influence someone else's actions. When a verb of influence is followed by que and a new subject (la empresa), the verb that follows must be in the subjunctive mood. That's why the regular present tense cambia becomes the subjunctive cambie.
Why is there a le attached to aconsejarle if we already specify a la empresa?
In Spanish, it's incredibly common (and often grammatically required) to use a redundant indirect object pronoun. Here, le means "to it" (the company). Even though you explicitly state who receives the advice by saying a la empresa right afterward, you still need to attach le to the infinitive verb. Think of it as a mandatory preview of who the action is directed toward.
Why is aconsejarle left in the infinitive instead of being conjugated?
It follows podría (could you). In Spanish, when you have two verbs working together like this (a conjugated auxiliary or modal verb followed by another action), the second verb stays in the infinitive. So, podría is conjugated for "you", and aconsejar stays in its base form.
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