Espero que la lluvia pare antes de las seis.

I hope the rain stops before six.

Breakdown of Espero que la lluvia pare antes de las seis.

• yo: I
• de: of
• que: that
• antes: before
• esperar: to hope
• la lluvia: the rain
• parar: to stop
• las seis: the six

Questions & Answers about Espero que la lluvia pare antes de las seis.

Why is pare in the subjunctive mood after Espero que?

The expression esperar que (“to hope that”) introduces something you wish for but isn’t guaranteed. In Spanish, when you express desire, hope or uncertainty about an action, the verb in the subordinate clause must be in the subjunctive. That’s why you use pare (present subjunctive of parar) instead of an indicative form.

What’s the difference between pare (with an “e”) and para (with an “a”)?

• pare is the third-person singular present subjunctive of parar (“to stop”).
• para can be the preposition “for/in order to,” or the third‐person singular present indicative of parar.
Here you need the subjunctive form (pare) because it follows esperar que.

How do you form the present subjunctive of the verb parar?

1. Start with the first-person present indicative: yo paro.
2. Drop the –o → par-.
3. Add the –ar subjunctive endings: e, es, e, emos, éis, en.
   So you get:
    yo pare
    tú pares
    él/ella/Ud. pare
    nosotros paremos
    vosotros paréis
    ellos/ellas/Uds. paren
   Since la lluvia is third-person singular, we use pare.

Why does the sentence say antes de las seis instead of antes de que sean las seis?

• antes de + noun phrase (here las seis) simply marks a time boundary (“before six o’clock”). No conjunction or subjunctive is needed.
• antes de que + clause introduces a verb and always takes the subjunctive (e.g. antes de que empiece a llover). Since seis is just a noun, you stick with antes de las seis.

Why is there no que before las seis?

You only use que in antes de que when you’re linking to a subordinate clause. In antes de las seis, antes de is immediately followed by the noun phrase las seis, so que isn’t used.

Why do we say las seis with the definite article before the number?

In Spanish, clock times always take the definite article: son las dos, a la una, antes de las siete. You can’t omit las here.

Why is there a definite article la before lluvia?

Most Spanish nouns require an article. When referring to rainfall in general or a specific upcoming rain event, you say la lluvia. Omitting the article (Espero que lluvia pare) would be ungrammatical.

Can I change the word order of this sentence?

Yes. Spanish syntax is flexible. For example:
• Espero que pare la lluvia antes de las seis.
• Antes de las seis, espero que la lluvia pare.
Both mean the same, though the original word order is the most neutral.