Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): La aseguradora envía un mensaje si el rascacielos sufre daños por relámpago. - The insurance company sends a message if the skyscraper suffers lightning damage.

Aseguradora translates as “insurer” or “insurance company.” In Spanish, nouns ending in -ora are typically feminine, so they take the article la. Even when referring to a company or entity rather than a woman, the grammatical gender remains feminine.

What tense and person is envía, and why not use the future enviará?

Envía is the third person singular present indicative of enviar (“to send”). Spanish often uses the present tense to describe habitual or general actions, similar to “sends” in English. Using the present here emphasizes a routine: whenever the condition is met, the insurer sends a message. The future enviará (“will send”) is also correct but shifts the nuance slightly toward a single future event rather than an ongoing policy.

Why is si used instead of cuando, and why is the present indicative used after si?

In Spanish, si introduces a conditional clause (“if”). When expressing real or habitual conditions, you pair si with the present indicative. This structure (“si” + present indicative, then present indicative) is common to express “if X happens, then Y always happens.” Cuando (“when”) could also work if the speaker assumes the event will certainly occur, but si highlights it as a condition rather than a temporal fact.

What’s the difference between rayo and relámpago, and why use relámpago here?

A rayo is the bolt of lightning (the discharge), whereas a relámpago is the flash or streak of light you see. Saying daños por relámpago focuses on damage caused by a lightning flash. In many contexts, daños por rayo is also used. The choice can be stylistic or regional, but both refer to lightning-related damage.

Why is daños plural?

Daños is plural because in Spanish you usually talk about “damages” as multiple occurrences or instances of harm. Even if there’s a single event, it’s common to use the plural noun daños to cover all possible kinds of damage inflicted.

Why do we say el rascacielos and why doesn’t it change form in the plural?

Rascacielos is an invariable noun: its singular and plural forms are identical. You tell singular vs. plural by the article: el rascacielos (the skyscraper) vs. los rascacielos (the skyscrapers). Many compound nouns ending in -s follow this pattern.

Could we swap the two clauses and do we need a comma?

Yes. You can say:
Si el rascacielos sufre daños por relámpago, la aseguradora envía un mensaje.
When the conditional clause (si…) comes first, you usually place a comma before the main clause. If you keep the original order (main clause first), no comma is required.