Si Dios quiere -o - Si Dios quiera ?

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jabuti

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Mar 13, 2011
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Seems many Mexicans I have worked around say "Si Dios quiere", but when I was in the DR, I thought I was hearing "quiera". That, to me, would have made more sense. Subjunctive is used to express uncertainty, so wouldn't it be used by definition (since who knows what "God wants")? Or are people saying they don't have doubt that Dios lo quiere as??

:confused:

What is the real deal?
 
D

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i quizzed miesposo and he says it's normally "si dios quiere". alternatively "dios quiera", without "si".
 
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Marianopolita

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Dec 26, 2003
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Si Dios quiere....

Follow the rules of grammar regarding this and you will not err. Si Dios quiere is correct and anyone who speaks Spanish correctly, well, with or without knowing the rules of grammar will say Si Dios quiere.

There are some archaic forms used in the Caribbean especially DR and Puerto Rico with regards to similar usage of si + present subjunctive that I have noted but even knowing that fact, I have not heard si Dios quiera in the DR (but not to say it's not possible) and if you did hear it note the region of the DR where you have heard speakers say it because it's a key linguistic aspect of usage from a sociolinguistic point of view.

In Latin America in general there are some non standard forms of the imperfect subjunctive as well where in some countries it's considered normal and others it's considered outright incorrect usage.


-MP.
 
J

jabuti

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I was in Santiago. Why do I want to say it was limited to one person, someone teaching at PUCMM? Its not impossible I suppose. One of the instructors regularly failed to use capitalization and accent marks.

Most interesting about archaic Spanish. I will investigate. Thanks to all!
 
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dv8

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maybe this is an intentional mistake, something of a trademark? and i do not capitalize letters either, as a rule :) and because the accent in my language is fixed i skip the accents when i write. when i talk it's a hit and miss, depending whether i heard the word before. generally i understand the concept, i just ignore it. maybe at my peril :)
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pollogringo

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Dec 26, 2011
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Si Dios quiere... if God wants.

This implies hope.

Quiera Dios... may God want [it to be so].

This is almost more of a supplication.

I've never heard the subjunctive in conjunction with the the word si(if).
 
M

Marianopolita

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jabuti said:
I was in Santiago. Why do I want to say it was limited to one person, someone teaching at PUCMM? Its not impossible I suppose. One of the instructors regularly failed to use capitalization and accent marks.

Most interesting about archaic Spanish. I will investigate. Thanks to all!
Click to expand...

That's exactly the city and area in general (the Cibao) that I was referring to but I wanted you to specify it first. The subjunctive in Spanish can be studied separately as a course and not just as a few chapters of a grammar book because it's just such a vital part of the language. Some forms that are considered archaic in modern grammar are not considered correct such as Si Dios quiera but archaisms in Spanish (and language) in general linger. Therefore, you will hear the usage from some speakers and more specifically in some regions of the Spanish-speaking world. However, even if you studied the subjunctive in one of the oldest grammar books of the language, Gram?tica de la Lengua Castellana (1905). Author: Andr?s Bello, si + present subjunctive is not correct.


pollogringo said:
Perhaps it was a typo. We all make those from time to time.
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No, I don't think it was a typo because I have seen it several times in Chip's posts in different forums- Si Dios quiera. Although one understands the intended meaning, it's not correct. You pointed it out to him as well months ago in a post so you did your part with good intentions.


-MP.
 
C

Chip

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Marianopolita said:
No, I don't think it was a typo because I have seen it several times in Chip's posts in different forums- Si Dios quiera. Although one understands the intended meaning, it's not correct. You pointed it out to him as well months ago in a post so you did your part with good intentions.


-MP.
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I never said I made a typo. I implied what I heard was not correct.
 
A

Aguaita29

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Jul 27, 2011
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It should be either "Si Dios quiere" or "Dios quiera que...", but they don`t really have the same meaning.

The first is like "hopefully" or " If all goes according to planned". For example "I`ll see you next week, si Dios quiere" means that maybe you`ll see this person next week , if something else doesn`t come up. You are expressing that you have the intention to do something.

"Dios quera que..." Is followed by a subjunctive, and you use it to say that you strongly wish that something happens or does not happen. For example "Dios quiera que no llueva." You are saying that you strongly hope that it won`t rain.

You are hoping for things to happen but usually these are not things that depend on you. It`s more like external things. Like when you are hoping that your flight doesn`t get canceled, that someone does something or something is found.

Hope this helps!
 
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dv8

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A29, you explained it very well. miesposo also tried but he failed :) all i understood is that the meaning was different but he could not explain exactly why.
 
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