Breakdown of Si la situación empeora, será más peligroso usarlo.
Questions & Answers about Si la situación empeora, será más peligroso usarlo.
Spanish has different “if-clauses” (condicionales). This sentence is a real or likely condition (Type 1), so the rule is:
- After si use the present indicative (here empeora)
- In the main clause use the future indicative (here será).
You only use the subjunctive when the condition is unlikely or impossible (Type 2 or 3). For example:
- Unlikely: Si la situación empeorase, sería más peligroso usarlo.
Here you switch to imperfect subjunctive (empeorase) and conditional (sería) for a more hypothetical scenario.
In Spanish, ser describes inherent qualities or characteristics, while estar describes temporary states or locations.
Danger is viewed as an inherent quality of the action or object, so we use ser:
- Es peligroso usar esa máquina.
If you said está peligroso, it would sound odd—danger isn’t a temporary “state,” it’s a characteristic. Hence será más peligroso.
Standard Spanish punctuation requires a comma when the subordinate clause comes first:
- Si la situación empeora, será más peligroso usarlo.
If you reverse the order, the comma becomes optional:
- Será más peligroso usarlo si la situación empeora.
In that case you can omit the comma (though some writers still include it for clarity).
In sentences with an infinitive, Spanish lets you attach the pronoun to the end of the infinitive:
- …será más peligroso usarlo.
Alternatively, you could place lo before the conjugated verb if there were one in that clause, but since será is intransitive here, the pronoun must attach to usar. Compare:
- No lo voy a usar.
- Voy a usarlo.
Same logic: pronoun either precedes the finite verb or attaches to the infinitive.
Lo is a masculine singular direct-object pronoun. It stands in for a previously mentioned masculine noun—in context maybe el dispositivo, el aparato or el contrato, etc. If the thing you’re referring to were feminine, you’d use la instead. Without context, readers understand lo as “it” (something masculine/inanimate) mentioned earlier.
- Más (with accent) means “more” or “plus.”
- Mas (without accent) is an old literary conjunction meaning “but” (similar to pero).
Since here we mean “more dangerous,” we need más with the accent.
Yes, but each has its own nuance and grammar:
- En caso de que always triggers subjunctive:
“En caso de que la situación empeore, será más peligroso usarlo.” - Cuando for a future event usually takes subjunctive as well:
“Cuando la situación empeore, será más peligroso usarlo.” - Si with the present indicative (empeora) focuses on a likely condition.
Use si for straightforward “if” scenarios; use en caso de que to stress “in the event that,” and cuando when you assume it will happen eventually.
Using sería (“would be”) turns it into a more hypothetical, less certain outcome:
- “Si la situación empeora, sería más peligroso usarlo.”
This suggests you’re speculating or being more tentative.
Using será (“will be”) states the result as a straightforward future fact, which is exactly what a Type 1 conditional does in Spanish.