Word
No hace falta que compres más cereal; todavía queda en la caja.
Meaning
You do not need to buy more cereal; there is still some left in the box.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of No hace falta que compres más cereal; todavía queda en la caja.
tú
you
en
in
comprar
to buy
que
that
Questions & Answers about No hace falta que compres más cereal; todavía queda en la caja.
What does no hace falta mean here?
No hace falta means it isn’t necessary or there’s no need.
Literally, hace falta is something like it makes/creates a need, but in real Spanish you should learn it as a fixed expression:
- Hace falta = it is necessary / needed
- No hace falta = it is not necessary / there is no need
So:
It is a very common everyday way to talk about necessity.
Why is compres in the subjunctive?
Because no hace falta que is a trigger for the subjunctive.
Spanish often uses the subjunctive after expressions of:
- necessity
- doubt
- emotion
- recommendation
- possibility
Here, no hace falta que... expresses whether something is necessary, so the next verb goes in the subjunctive:
- No hace falta que compres
- not No hace falta que compras
Compres is the present subjunctive form of comprar for tú.
A useful pattern to remember is:
- Hace falta que + subjunctive
- No hace falta que + subjunctive
Could I say No necesitas comprar más cereal instead?