Si necesitas estornudar, utiliza un pañuelo para no contagiar a los demás.

If you need to sneeze, use a tissue so you don’t infect others.

Breakdown of Si necesitas estornudar, utiliza un pañuelo para no contagiar a los demás.

• un: a
• tú: you
• para: to
• a: to
• necesitar: to need
• los: the
• ,: comma
• estornudar: to sneeze
• utilizar: to use
• contagiar: to infect

Questions & Answers about Si necesitas estornudar, utiliza un pañuelo para no contagiar a los demás.

Why does the sentence use Si necesitas (present indicative) instead of a subjunctive form?

In Spanish, when you have a likely or real condition introduced by si (meaning "if"), you often use the present indicative rather than the subjunctive. This construction suggests that the speaker sees sneezing as a realistic possibility rather than a hypothetical or unlikely scenario.

Is estornudar a regular -ar verb, and how do I conjugate it?

Yes, estornudar is a regular -ar verb. So it follows the same pattern as verbs like hablar or cantar. For example, in the present tense: • yo estornudo
• tú estornudas
• él/ella/usted estornuda
• nosotros estornudamos
• vosotros estornudáis (used mainly in Spain)
• ellos/ellas/ustedes estornudan

Why is utiliza used here, and can I replace it with usa?

Utiliza is a form of the imperative (command) of the verb utilizar, which means "to use." It's perfectly fine to say usa (from the verb usar) instead, and the meaning remains very similar. Some speakers might prefer utiliza because it sounds a bit more formal, but both are correct in this context.

What does para no contagiar a los demás specifically mean?

The phrase para no contagiar a los demás literally translates to "in order not to infect others." The idea is to prevent spreading germs to other people. Contagiar in Spanish refers to transmitting an illness or infection to someone else.

How does the imperative form work with utilizar in the sentence?

For the tú form (informal singular), the imperative of utilizar typically ends in -a:
• tú utiliza
• vosotros utilizad (used mainly in Spain)
• usted utilice (formal)
• ustedes utilicen (formal or plural in Latin America, formal plural in Spain)

In the sentence, utiliza un pañuelo is the direct command telling the person (tú) to use a tissue.