65.1.5 (No)+ (pronoun) temer+ (a+ noun/pronoun)
Temer, ‘to be afraid’, ‘to fear’, is less common and less strong than tener miedo and it
tends to be used in more formal contexts.¡No temas!
Don’t be afraid!No le teme.
He/she is not frightened of him/her.Todos le temían.
Everyone was afraid of him/her.¿Es verdad que le temes al mar?
Is it true you are afraid of the sea?No le temen a nadie.
They are not afraid of anyone.In the last two examples note the redundant pronoun le, a common feature in Spanish.
Here are two more examples with different verbs:Le dije a Carlos.
I told Carlos.Les hice un regalo a mis padres.
I gave my parents a present.8.3 (p. 39)
65.1.6 (No) temer+ infinitive
Temo molestarlo.
I’m afraid of bothering him.No temas hacerlo.
Don’t be afraid of doing it.Temían llegar atrasados.
They were afraid of being late.65.1.7 (No) temer+que+ subjunctive
We use this construction with a subjunctive when the subject of the main verb and
that of the complement verb are different. If the main verb, in this case temer, is in
the present (e.g. temo que... , ‘I’m afraid that.. .’), the second verb will take the
present subjunctive; but if we use temer in the preterite (e.g. temí que... , ‘I was
afraid that.. .’) or the imperfect (temíamos que... , ‘we were afraid that.. .’), we
will need to use the imperfect subjunctive in the second clause.Temo que me deje.
I’m afraid he/she may leave me.Temo que vuelva a hacerlo.
I’m afraid he/she may do it again.Common expressions of fear 65.1