No quiera hacerme creer que ha desertado pero

No quiera hacerme creer que ha desertado pero que se ha sentido en la obligación de venir a avisarme antes de desaparecer. Eso es pueril —dijo Pierre, levantando la voz.

This first verb in the subjunctive really surprised me. I suppose it's implied: "Que no quiera hacerme que...". I guess I'm just not used to seeing this usage (i.e., with no leading "que") other than in stock phrases like "¡Viva el rey!"






 

Hi Steven, 

The way I see the first sentence it's also a negative command: "No quiera hacerme creer"... I understand you would use the imperative only for direct, positive commands to the 2nd. person. For everything else, an elliptic sentence with the subjunctive is used.

I hope this helps!

Cheers!
 

Ah, of course, a negative command. I didn't see that. Thanks, Marie.

Regarding subjunctives with no triggers (an issue that's come up a few times), the course actually has a number of these (though please correct me if I've got it wrong). Example:

- Hubieras debido disculparte. You should have apologized.
 

Hi Steven, 

Yes, the course does have quite a few phrases using subjunctives with no triggers; "Hubieras debido" is definitely one of them :) A compound subjunctive tense. 

Cheers!