Breakdown of Hace falta que compres pasta de dientes y desodorante cuando vayas al supermercado.
Questions & Answers about Hace falta que compres pasta de dientes y desodorante cuando vayas al supermercado.
Here hace falta means something like it’s necessary, it’s needed, or you need to.
It is an impersonal expression, so Spanish uses hace in the 3rd person singular:
- Hace falta pan. = Bread is needed.
- Hace falta estudiar. = It’s necessary to study.
- Hace falta que compres... = It’s necessary that you buy...
In this sentence, it sounds a bit less direct and less personal than tienes que comprar.
Because hace falta que is followed by the subjunctive, not the indicative.
So:
- Hace falta que compres... is correct.
- Hace falta que compras... is not correct.
This happens because hacer falta que expresses necessity or requirement, and those ideas typically trigger the subjunctive in Spanish.
Compres is the present subjunctive of comprar for tú.
Spanish uses the subjunctive after expressions like:
- es necesario que
- es importante que
- hace falta que
These all express things like necessity, importance, desire, emotion, or uncertainty.
So in:
- Hace falta que compres pasta de dientes...
the speaker is not simply stating a fact; they are expressing a need or requirement. That is why compres is subjunctive.
Because here cuando refers to a future action: the next time you go to the supermarket.
In Spanish, when cuando refers to something that has not happened yet, Spanish normally uses the subjunctive:
- cuando vayas al supermercado = when you go / when you next go to the supermarket
But if you are talking about something habitual or something that already happens regularly, Spanish uses the indicative:
- Cuando vas al supermercado, compras mucho. = When you go to the supermarket, you buy a lot.
So:
- cuando vayas = future/not yet completed
- cuando vas = habitual or factual
Vayas is the present subjunctive of ir for tú.
The verb ir is irregular, and its present subjunctive forms are:
- yo vaya
- tú vayas
- él/ella/usted vaya
- nosotros/nosotras vayamos
- vosotros/vosotras vayáis
- ellos/ellas/ustedes vayan
Even though English often translates it with a future meaning here (when you go), Spanish still uses the present subjunctive after cuando for future reference.
Both can mean something close to you need to buy, but the tone is a little different.
- Hace falta que compres... = It’s necessary that you buy...
- Tienes que comprar... = You have to buy...
Hace falta que compres is more impersonal. It focuses on the need itself. Tienes que comprar is more direct, because it addresses the person more explicitly.
In everyday speech, both are common, but hace falta que... can sound slightly softer or more indirect.
Because Spanish often leaves out the article when talking about items in a general, indefinite way, especially in shopping-list style language.
So:
- comprar pasta de dientes y desodorante = buy toothpaste and deodorant
This sounds natural when the speaker means some toothpaste and some deodorant, not specific known items.
If you were talking about specific items already known to both people, you might use articles:
- la pasta de dientes y el desodorante
That would suggest the toothpaste and the deodorant you already have in mind.
Yes, pasta de dientes is very common and natural in Spain.
Another word you may also see is:
- dentífrico
But in everyday conversation, pasta de dientes is very common and easy to understand.
Literally, it means paste of teeth, but you should just learn it as the normal Spanish expression for toothpaste.
Al is the contraction of a + el:
- a el supermercado → al supermercado
So:
- ir al supermercado = to go to the supermarket
This contraction is required in standard Spanish whenever a and el come together, except with some proper names:
- Voy al supermercado.
- Vamos al cine.
A very similar contraction is:
- de + el = del
Yes, that is perfectly possible.
Spanish is flexible with word order, especially with subordinate clauses like cuando vayas al supermercado.
Both are natural:
- Hace falta que compres pasta de dientes y desodorante cuando vayas al supermercado.
- Cuando vayas al supermercado, hace falta que compres pasta de dientes y desodorante.
The difference is mainly one of focus:
- starting with Hace falta... puts the emphasis on the need
- starting with Cuando vayas... puts the emphasis on the time/situation
Compres is the tú form, so it means the speaker is talking to one person informally.
The forms would change depending on who is being addressed:
- Hace falta que compres... = you buy (informal singular)
- Hace falta que compre... = you buy (formal singular) / he/she buys
- Hace falta que compréis... = you all buy (informal plural, used in Spain)
- Hace falta que compren... = you all buy (formal plural in Spain; general plural in Latin America)
Because this is Spanish from Spain, learners should especially notice compréis as the informal plural form used there.
Usually yes. Desodorante is the normal word for deodorant.
In everyday use, people may not always strictly distinguish between deodorant and antiperspirant the same way product labels do in English. In shops, though, you may see:
- desodorante
- antitranspirante
But for normal conversation, desodorante is exactly the word most learners will want.
This is a very common feature of Spanish.
Spanish often uses the present subjunctive to talk about future situations when they are:
- required
- expected
- not yet real
- dependent on another action
In this sentence:
- compres appears because hace falta que triggers the subjunctive
- vayas appears because cuando refers to a future event that has not happened yet
So even though English might think of this as future meaning, Spanish does not use a future subjunctive here in modern language. The present subjunctive does that job.