Breakdown of Es importante capacitar a los empleados con el objetivo de que trabajen mejor.
ser
to be
de
from / of
los
the (masculine plural)
trabajar
to work
con
with
importante
important
mejor
better
que
that / than
el objetivo
the objective
el empleado
the employee
capacitar
to train (professionally, for a job)
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Es importante capacitar a los empleados con el objetivo de que trabajen mejor.
Why is trabajen in the subjunctive here?
The phrase con el objetivo de que (with the objective that / in order to) introduces a purpose. In Spanish, purpose clauses always trigger the subjunctive because the outcome is an intention or a goal, not a realized fact yet. Therefore, trabajar becomes the subjunctive trabajen.
Could we just use the infinitive and say con el objetivo de trabajar mejor?
Not in this exact sentence, because there is a subject change. The implied subject doing the training is a general "we" or the company, but the subject who will work better is the employees. Whenever the subject changes between the main action and the purpose, you must use que + subjunctive. If the employees were training themselves, you could use the infinitive: Los empleados se capacitan con el objetivo de trabajar mejor.
Why is there an a before los empleados? Are they an indirect object?
No, los empleados is the direct object of capacitar (to train). The a is the "personal a". Even at intermediate levels, it's easy to forget that you must use this a whenever the direct object of a verb is a specific person or a specific group of people.
Can I use entrenar instead of capacitar to mean "to train" the employees?
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