English Translation
I am afraid that they don’t get along very well.
I’m surprised that “me temo que” isn’t followed by the subjunctive.
It’s indeed surprising. I suppose it’s because most of the time when this expression is used, the speaker isn’t really afraid; it’s just a way to signal that some bad news is on the way.
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Ok, so, I have been giving this a thought since yesterday, unfortunately, I do not have a definitive answer.
Initally, I was going to say that it ha to do with “me temo que” and “temo que”, one using subjunctive and not the other, but I have seen examples that contradict this idea.
So, I feel it has rather to do with the meaning:
- “temo que”+ subj → I fear that. Example: temo que mueran → I fear that they (should) die
- “me temo que” + not subjunctive (can be present, but other tenses as well, depending on what you want to say) → “I’m afraid that” (as in, the polite way to introduce bad news). Example: me temo que han muerto, lo siento → I’m afraid they died, sorry
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