Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cuando ella nos hipnotiza, nos hace olvidar nuestros problemas. - When she hypnotizes us, she makes us forget our problems.

Cuando ella nos hipnotiza, nos hace olvidar nuestros problemas.

When she hypnotizes us, she makes us forget our problems.

Breakdown of Cuando ella nos hipnotiza, nos hace olvidar nuestros problemas.

Questions & Answers about Cuando ella nos hipnotiza, nos hace olvidar nuestros problemas.

Why is nos placed before hace instead of attached to olvidar?

In causative structures like hacer or dejar followed by an infinitive, the object pronoun (like nos) almost always goes before the conjugated causative verb (hace). While you might be used to attaching pronouns to infinitives in other grammar structures, placing them before the causative verb is the standard and most natural word order here.

Is nos in nos hace olvidar a direct or indirect object?

In this specific sentence, it acts as an indirect object. The rule for causatives is that if the infinitive verb has its own direct object (here, nuestros problemas), the person being made to do the action becomes the indirect object. Because nos is the same word for both direct and indirect objects, it doesn't change form here, but if the object were him or her, you would use le (e.g., le hace olvidar nuestros problemas).

Why is hipnotiza in the present indicative and not the subjunctive?

You use the indicative after cuando when you are talking about habits, facts, or things that happen regularly. Since this sentence describes a recurring event (essentially 'whenever she hypnotizes us'), it takes the indicative. You would only use the subjunctive (hipnotice) if referring to a specific future, pending event.

Could we use the pronominal verb olvidarse here instead?