Con estas nubes negras, debe de llover pronto en este valle seco.

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Breakdown of Con estas nubes negras, debe de llover pronto en este valle seco.

• con: with
• este: this
• pronto: soon

Questions & Answers about Con estas nubes negras, debe de llover pronto en este valle seco.

What does con mean here? Is it just with, or does it mean because of?

In this sentence, con literally means with, but it often has a causal sense in Spanish.

• Con estas nubes negras can be understood as:
  • With these black clouds
    or more naturally in English as
  • Given these black clouds / Because of these black clouds

So con is introducing the condition or cause that leads to the prediction that it will rain soon. This is a very common way in Spanish to introduce a cause or circumstance.

Why is it debe de llover and not debe llover?