Breakdown of Ellos buscan la estabilidad, mientras que nosotros preferimos emprender.
nosotros
we
ellos
they
preferir
to prefer
buscar
to look for
que
that / than
mientras
while / the more/less (in proportional comparisons) / as long as
la estabilidad
stability
emprender
to undertake / to start a business
Questions & Answers about Ellos buscan la estabilidad, mientras que nosotros preferimos emprender.
Why is preferimos in the indicative mood instead of the subjunctive after mientras que?
When mientras que is used to contrast two facts (meaning "whereas" or "while on the other hand"), it takes the indicative. You would use the subjunctive if it meant "as long as" referring to an uncertain future event, but here we are stating a known reality about what we prefer.
Does emprender specifically mean "to start a business"? I thought it meant "to undertake".
Why do we need the article la before estabilidad, when in English we just say "stability"?
In Spanish, abstract nouns like estabilidad, amor, or paz require a definite article (el, la, los, las) when you are talking about the concept in a general sense. English drops the article for general abstract concepts, but Spanish keeps it.
Could I just use mientras instead of mientras que in this sentence?
It is much better to use mientras que. Using mientras on its own usually means "while" in a strictly time-related sense, implying two things are happening simultaneously. Adding que makes it a contrastive conjunction, which perfectly translates to "whereas"whereas".
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