Express Doubt in Spanish

Doubt--Disbelief

Students should recognize sentences in which "doubt" is expressed. In addition to the word "doubt" itself, there are many other ways of expressing disbelief, such as "I don't believe", "It doesn't seem", "It's unlikely", "I can't imagine", etc. Students should remember that in a sentence in which disbelief is expressed, it is necessary to use the subjunctive form of the verb in the "dependent clause" (not the main verb, except in some very rare cases which we will not go into here).

(fact) Juan estudia mucho.
(doubt) Yo no creo que Juan estudie mucho.

Sometimes we express disbelief in an indirect way. Rather than saying, "I don't believe" (or anyone specific), we make a general statement.

Es imposible que Juan estudie.
No es probable que Juan estudie.
Es difícil que Juan estudie. (It's unlikely that John is studying.)