Breakdown of El jefe le aconsejó al subordinado que escuchara la indicación.
escuchar
to listen
al
to the
que
that / than
le
to him / to her / to you (formal)
el jefe
the boss
aconsejar
to advise
la indicación
the instruction
el subordinado
the subordinate
Questions & Answers about El jefe le aconsejó al subordinado que escuchara la indicación.
Why is escuchara in the imperfect subjunctive here?
The main verb aconsejó is in the past tense and expresses influence over someone's actions. When reporting past advice, commands, or requests, Spanish requires the imperfect subjunctive in the subordinate clause. Notice that while English uses an infinitive (advised him to listen), Spanish uses a que clause.
Why do we need the pronoun le when we already say al subordinado?
This is called indirect object duplication. In Spanish, when a specific indirect object like al subordinado follows the verb, it is standard and usually required to include the matching indirect object pronoun, which is le in this case. Think of le as an essential tag that points out who is receiving the advice.
Could I just use the infinitive and say le aconsejó al subordinado escuchar?
Yes, it is grammatically possible to use the infinitive escuchar directly after verbs of influence like aconsejar. However, using que followed by the imperfect subjunctive is much more common and natural in spoken Spanish, especially when the person receiving the advice is explicitly named.
Why is indicación translated as instruction rather than indication?
While it can mean indication, in workplace or formal contexts indicación very often translates to instruction, direction, or guideline. Here, the boss is referring to a specific directive the subordinate was supposed to follow.
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