Si quieres paz, visita el bosque porque es muy tranquilo.

If you want peace, visit the forest because it is very quiet.

Breakdown of Si quieres paz, visita el bosque porque es muy tranquilo.

• ser: to be
• tú: you
• muy: very
• visitar: to visit
• porque: because
• si: if
• tranquilo: quiet
• querer: to want
• el bosque: the forest
• la paz: the peace

Questions & Answers about Si quieres paz, visita el bosque porque es muy tranquilo.

Why is Si quieres paz using the informal form quieres instead of a more formal form?

In Spanish, tú quieres is the informal way of saying you want when speaking to someone you know well or someone of your own age or status. If you wanted to be more formal or address someone you don’t know well, you might say Si quiere paz (using usted).

Why do we use visita rather than visitar or visite?

Visita is the informal (tú) imperative form of the verb visitar, telling someone directly visit. If you wanted to use the infinitive, you would say visitar to mean to visit, and if you wanted a polite command form, you’d use visite (usted form).

Why is it el bosque as opposed to al bosque after visita?

In Spanish, when giving a direct command like visit X, you typically place the definite article immediately before the noun (e.g., el bosque). You would use al (a + el) if it followed a preposition a, such as Ve al bosque (Go to the forest). However, here we just have visita el bosque, so we keep el separate from visita.

Is there any difference between porque and por qué in this sentence?

Yes. Porque (written as one word) means because and is used to give a reason — that’s what you see here. Meanwhile, por qué (written as two words) means why and is used in questions, as in ¿Por qué estás aquí? (Why are you here?).

Why do we say es muy tranquilo instead of está muy tranquilo?

Es muy tranquilo suggests that being peaceful or tranquil is a more or less permanent characteristic of the forest. If you said está muy tranquilo, it would imply a temporary state, like it’s calm right now but might change later. Since forests are generally peaceful by nature, es muy tranquilo is preferred here.