Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Es importante que respetemos el plazo, porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega. - It is important that we meet the deadline, because if not, the teacher will not accept the submission.

Es importante que respetemos el plazo, porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega.

It is important that we meet the deadline, because if not, the teacher will not accept the submission.

Breakdown of Es importante que respetemos el plazo, porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega.

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Questions & Answers about Es importante que respetemos el plazo, porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega.

Why is it respetemos and not respetamos?

Because after expressions like es importante que, Spanish normally uses the subjunctive.

Es importante que respetemos el plazo
→ "It is important that we respect/meet the deadline."

Respetemos is the present subjunctive of respetar. The subjunctive appears because:

There is que introducing a subordinate clause.
The main verb expresses opinion, importance, necessity, or wish, not a simple fact.

Compare:

Sé que respetamos el plazo.
"I know that we are meeting the deadline." (fact → indicative respetamos)
Es importante que respetemos el plazo.
"It is important that we meet the deadline." (value judgment/necessity → subjunctive respetemos)

Using respetamos here (Es importante que respetamos el plazo) sounds wrong to a native speaker.

Could I say Es importante respetar el plazo instead of Es importante que respetemos el plazo? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both, but there is a nuance:

Es importante respetar el plazo.
- Literally: "Respecting the deadline is important."
- General statement, more impersonal. It doesn’t specify who has to respect the deadline.
Es importante que respetemos el plazo.
- "It’s important that we respect/meet the deadline."
- More directly aimed at us; it sounds like advice or a reminder for the group that’s speaking.

Both are correct and natural. The version with que + subjunctive lets you specify the subject (nosotros → respetemos).

Why do we need que after Es importante? Could we leave it out?

In this structure, que is required because it introduces a subordinate clause:

Main clause: Es importante
Subordinate clause: que respetemos el plazo

Together: Es importante que respetemos el plazo.

You cannot say:
✗ Es importante respetemos el plazo.

Without que, you have two options:

Use an infinitive: Es importante respetar el plazo.
Or change the structure completely.

So here que works like English "that" in "It's important that we meet the deadline" (even though English often drops that, Spanish keeps que).

What exactly does plazo mean here? Is it just “deadline”? Could I say fecha límite?

Plazo is a very common word in Spain. In this context, it means the time limit or deadline by which you have to hand something in.

respetar el plazo ≈ "to respect/meet the deadline"
cumplir el plazo is another natural option.

You can definitely say fecha límite:

Es importante que respetemos la fecha límite.

Nuances:

plazo is shorter and very idiomatic, especially for administrative, academic, or bureaucratic contexts.
fecha límite is very clear and also correct; it literally focuses on the limit date.

What does si no mean here, and how is it different from sino as one word?

In the sentence:

...porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega.

Si no (two words) literally means "if not" and can often be translated as "otherwise":

Tenemos que respetar el plazo, porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega.
"We have to meet the deadline, because otherwise the teacher won’t accept the submission."

Sino (one word) is completely different; it means "but rather" / "but instead" and is used to correct or contrast something:

No la entregamos hoy, sino mañana.
"We’re not handing it in today, but rather tomorrow."

So:

si no = if not / otherwise (conditional)
sino = but rather / but instead (contrast)

Why is it porque si no and not just porque no?

Porque si no introduces a condition (if we don’t do X, then Y will happen):

Es importante que respetemos el plazo, porque si no, la profesora no aceptará la entrega.
"…because if we don’t, the teacher will not accept the submission."

If you used porque no:

…porque no la profesora aceptará la entrega. → ungrammatical
…porque la profesora no aceptará la entrega. → grammatical but different meaning

Porque la profesora no aceptará la entrega would suggest that her not accepting it is the reason, but without expressing clearly that it depends on whether we respect the deadline. The si no makes the conditional relationship explicit: if we don’t respect it, then she won’t accept it.

Why is aceptará in the future tense? Could I say no acepta la entrega or no va a aceptar la entrega?

Aceptará is the simple future of aceptar and here it expresses a future consequence or warning:

…la profesora no aceptará la entrega.
"…the teacher won’t accept the submission."

Alternatives:

…la profesora no acepta la entrega.
Could work in a more general, “rule-like” sense: “the teacher does not accept the submission (if the deadline isn’t met).” It sounds a bit more like a standing rule than a specific future event.
…la profesora no va a aceptar la entrega.
Very natural too, similar meaning to no aceptará, maybe slightly more colloquial and immediate.

All three are possible, but no aceptará is a very natural way to express a clear future consequence or threat linked to the condition si no.

What does la entrega mean here? Why is there an article?

Entrega is a noun formed from the verb entregar (“to hand in / to deliver”). In this context, la entrega means:

the act of handing in the work, or
the submission itself (the assignment you submit).

In academic Spanish, you’ll often see:

la entrega del trabajo – the handing in / submission of the assignment
la entrega del proyecto – project submission

The definite article la is used because it refers to a specific submission everyone in the context knows about (for example, this particular assignment). It’s like saying "the submission", not just “submission” in general.

Why is it la profesora and not just profesora or el profesor?

Profesora is the feminine form of profesor (teacher).
La is the feminine singular article "the".

So:

la profesora = "the (female) teacher"
el profesor = "the (male) teacher"

You would choose la profesora or el profesor according to the actual person’s gender.

You could drop the article in certain vocative uses, when speaking directly:

Profesora, ¿puedo hacerle una pregunta?
"Professor/Teacher, can I ask you a question?"

But in the sentence given, la profesora is the subject of the verb aceptará, so you need the article: la profesora no aceptará la entrega.

Does respetar el plazo mean “to respect the deadline” literally, or is it more like “to meet the deadline”?

Literally it is “to respect the deadline”, but in practice it means to meet / keep to / comply with the deadline.

Very common collocations:

respetar el plazo – to meet the deadline
cumplir el plazo – to comply with the deadline
entregar dentro del plazo – to hand in within the deadline
entregar a tiempo – to hand in on time

So in natural English, you would usually translate it as "meet the deadline" rather than “respect the deadline”.

Why don’t we say Es importante de respetar el plazo? In English we say “It’s important to respect the deadline.”

In Spanish, you do not put de between es importante and an infinitive. The correct pattern is:

Es importante + infinitive
- Es importante respetar el plazo.
- Es importante estudiar.
- Es importante dormir bien.

Adding de (Es importante de respetar el plazo) is a common mistake influenced by English "to", but it’s incorrect in Spanish in this structure.

Is que here like “what” or like “that” in English?

In Es importante que respetemos el plazo, que corresponds to "that", not "what".

It’s important that we meet the deadline.
Es importante que respetemos el plazo.

So:

It is not: "It’s important what we meet the deadline."
It is: "It’s important that we meet the deadline."

In this kind of construction (es + adjective + que + clause), que is a conjunction meaning "that" introducing a subordinate clause.