Learn Spanish (Spain): Es dudoso que el acusado diga la verdad. - It is doubtful that the accused tells the truth.

Es dudoso que el acusado diga la verdad.

It is doubtful that the accused tells the truth.

Breakdown of Es dudoso que el acusado diga la verdad.

ser

to be

que

that (relative pronoun, conjunction)

Questions & Answers about Es dudoso que el acusado diga la verdad.

Why is diga used here instead of dice?

The phrase Es dudoso que (It is doubtful that) expresses uncertainty. In Spanish, expressing intrinsic doubt about whether an action is true triggers the subjunctive mood. Therefore, we use the subjunctive diga rather than the indicative dice.

How do we form the subjunctive diga from the verb decir?

To form the present subjunctive, you usually take the yo form of the present tense, drop the -o, and add the opposite verb endings. For decir, the yo form is digo. Dropping the -o leaves the stem dig-, and adding the -ar verb ending for he/she/it gives us diga.

Is acusado an adjective or a noun in this sentence?

It is acting as a noun here, meaning the accused or the defendant. In Spanish, you can often turn a past participle (like acusado, meaning accused) into a noun simply by putting an article like el or la in front of it.

Why does the sentence use decir (diga) instead of contar (cuente) for telling the truth?

In Spanish, the set phrase for telling the truth is always decir la verdad. The verb contar means to tell in the sense of narrating a story or a joke (like contar una historia), but it is not used for telling the truth or a lie.