Breakdown of El abuelo los regaña de manera que cambien su comportamiento.
el abuelo
the grandfather
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
cambiar
to change
el comportamiento
the behavior
Questions & Answers about El abuelo los regaña de manera que cambien su comportamiento.
Why is cambien in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative cambian?
The phrase de manera que (so that / in such a way that) takes the subjunctive when it expresses a purpose or an intended future outcome. The grandfather is scolding them with the intention that they change their behavior, but the change hasn't actually happened yet. If he were just describing a habitual factual result (for example, "he scolds them in a specific way, and as a result, they always change"), you would use the indicative cambian.
Can I use para que instead of de manera que in this sentence?
Yes! Para que is the most common way to say "so that" and it always triggers the subjunctive. De manera que works exactly the same way here but has a slightly more specific flavor, translating closer to "in such a way that" or "in a manner that".
Why is it los regaña and not les regaña?
The verb regañar (to scold) takes a direct object because the action is happening directly to the people being scolded. Therefore, you use the direct object pronoun los. While you might hear les used in some regions due to "leísmo" (a regional tendency to use le/les for people even when they are direct objects), los is the standard choice in Latin America for a masculine or mixed group.
Is comportamiento related to the English word "comportment"?