Breakdown of ¿Podrías cortar la cebolla para que preparemos el almuerzo?
el almuerzo
lunch
para
for
poder
to be able to / can
que
that / than
Questions & Answers about ¿Podrías cortar la cebolla para que preparemos el almuerzo?
Why is the verb preparemos in the subjunctive instead of the normal present tense?
The phrase para que (so that) introduces a purpose or a goal. Because a goal is something you want to happen, rather than a stated fact, it always triggers the subjunctive mood. That is why we use preparemos instead of the indicative preparamos.
Could I just say para preparar el almuerzo instead of para que preparemos?
You would use para + infinitive (para preparar) if the person doing the first action was the exact same person doing the second action. Here, there is a change in subject: you are cutting the onion so that we can prepare lunch. Whenever the subject changes, Spanish requires para que followed by the subjunctive.
What tense is podrías, and why do we use it here?
Podrías is the conditional tense of poder (to be able to). It translates directly to "Could you." Just like in English, using the conditional makes a request sound much softer and more polite than using the present tense (¿Puedes cortar...? / Can you cut...?).
Why do we need the word el before almuerzo? In English we just say "prepare lunch."