Breakdown of No es que sienta desconfianza cuando hables con él mañana, sino que me preocupo.
ser
to be
él
he
no
no, not
hablar
to speak / to talk
con
with
mañana
tomorrow
que
that / than
preocuparse
to worry
cuando
when (statement)
sentir
to feel
sino
but (rather)
la desconfianza
distrust
Questions & Answers about No es que sienta desconfianza cuando hables con él mañana, sino que me preocupo.
Why is sienta in the subjunctive but me preocupo in the indicative?
This sentence uses a 'rejected reason' structure. You use no es que followed by the subjunctive (sienta) to deny a possible cause, and then sino que followed by the indicative (me preocupo) to state the actual, factual reality.
The English translation says 'I will feel', but sienta is present subjunctive. How do we express the future here?
Spanish rarely uses the future subjunctive in modern speech. Whenever a trigger like no es que requires the subjunctive for a future event, you simply use the present subjunctive. The context, especially the word mañana, makes the future timeframe obvious.
Why does this sentence use cuando hables instead of the future tense cuando hablarás?
After the word cuando, Spanish requires the present subjunctive to talk about an event that hasn't happened yet (like talking to him tomorrow). You can never use the future tense immediately after cuando in a time clause.
Could I just say sino me preocupo instead of sino que me preocupo?
No, you must use sino que when the contrast introduces a new conjugated verb (me preocupo). You only use sino without the que when you are contrasting nouns, adjectives, or infinitives.
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