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Si la carretera está mojada, manejo despacio y con cuidado.

Si la carretera está mojada, manejo despacio y con cuidado.
If the road is wet, I drive slowly and carefully.

Breakdown of Si la carretera está mojada, manejo despacio y con cuidado.

yo
I
estar
to be
y
and
si
if
mojado
wet
manejar
to drive
con cuidado
carefully
despacio
slowly
la carretera
the road
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Questions & Answers about Si la carretera está mojada, manejo despacio y con cuidado.

Why does the sentence start with Si? Is it the same as sí?

Si (without an accent) means if and introduces a condition: Si la carretera está mojada... = If the road is wet...
Sí (with an accent) means yes or can be used for emphasis (like indeed). They’re different words.

Why is it está mojada and not es mojada?

Estar is typically used for states/conditions (often temporary or situational), while ser is used for more inherent characteristics/identity. A road being wet is a condition, so Spanish uses estar: la carretera está mojada.

Why is mojada feminine?

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Carretera is feminine singular (la carretera), so mojado becomes mojada.

Does the comma matter? When do you use a comma after an if clause in Spanish?

When the conditional clause comes first (Si...), Spanish normally uses a comma to separate it from the main clause:
Si la carretera está mojada, manejo...
If the main clause comes first, the comma is often omitted:
Manejo despacio y con cuidado si la carretera está mojada.

Why is it manejo and not conduzco?

Both mean I drive. In much of Latin America, manejar is extremely common for driving a car. Conducir is also correct and common, but can sound a bit more formal or more “standard” depending on the region.
So: Manejo despacio... and Conduzco despacio... both work.

Is manejo present tense, and can it mean “I am driving” too?

Yes, manejo is the present tense I drive / I am driving. Spanish present tense often covers both the habitual and the “right now” meaning; context decides. In a general safety statement like this, it’s usually understood as habitual/general.

Why is it not manejaré (future) or manejaría (conditional)?

Spanish often uses the present tense for general cause-and-effect statements and routines: If X happens, I do Y.

  • manejaré would sound more like I will drive (specific future situation).
  • manejaría would be I would drive (more hypothetical).
Do I need to say yo manejo?

No—Spanish usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. (Yo) manejo is correct, but yo is typically only used for emphasis or contrast (e.g., “I drive slowly, but he doesn’t”).

Why is it despacio and not lento/lentamente?

Despacio is a very common adverb meaning slowly.

  • lentamente also means slowly but can sound more formal.
  • lento is an adjective (slow) and would need to agree with a noun, or you’d use lento in expressions like voy lento (I’m going slow). For “drive slowly,” manejo despacio is the most natural.
What does con cuidado mean exactly? Is it like “carefully”?

Yes. Con cuidado = carefully / with care. It’s a common way to express the adverbial idea without using an -mente adverb.
You could also say cuidadosamente, but con cuidado is more common in everyday speech.

Why use y con cuidado instead of cuidadosamente?

Spanish often prefers con + noun phrases for adverbial meaning (natural, conversational): con cuidado, con calma, con paciencia.
Cuidadosamente is correct but can sound more formal or “written.”

Does despacio y con cuidado mean two separate things?

Yes, it’s two coordinated ideas:
1) despacio = slowly
2) con cuidado = carefully
Together they emphasize safe driving in wet conditions.

Could I say Si la carretera está mojada, manejo con cuidado y despacio? Does word order matter?

Yes, that’s also correct. Word order is flexible here; both are natural. The original order (despacio y con cuidado) is a very common rhythm, but swapping them doesn’t change the meaning.

What’s the difference between carretera, camino, and calle?
  • carretera: road/highway (often between towns/cities)
  • calle: street (in a town/city)
  • camino: path/road/way (can be more general, sometimes rural or less formal)
    So carretera fits well for a “road” where driving conditions matter.
Why is the sentence in the indicative and not the subjunctive after si?

With si + a condition that is real/possible (present or past), Spanish uses the indicative: Si está mojada...
Subjunctive is not used after si in this type of “if” clause. (The common pattern for hypothetical is Si + imperfect subjunctive, e.g., Si estuviera mojada, manejaría...)

How would I make it more hypothetical, like “If the road were wet, I would drive slowly and carefully”?

Use si + imperfect subjunctive and conditional:
Si la carretera estuviera mojada, manejaría despacio y con cuidado.
(Also common: Si la carretera estuviese mojada... depending on region/style.)

Can mojada refer to rain specifically, or any kind of wet?
Mojada simply means wet, regardless of the cause (rain, sprinklers, flooding, etc.). If you want to specify rain, you could add context: por la lluvia (because of the rain).