Breakdown of Si usáramos el ingrediente crudo, el sabor sería horrible.
ser
to be
usar
to use / to wear
horrible
horrible
si
if
el ingrediente
the ingredient
el sabor
the flavor
crudo
raw
Questions & Answers about Si usáramos el ingrediente crudo, el sabor sería horrible.
Why is the verb usáramos in a past tense form if we are talking about a hypothetical present or future?
Usáramos is in the imperfect subjunctive mood. In Spanish, when you set up a hypothetical or unlikely situation with "if" ("If we used..."), you use si + the imperfect subjunctive. The second part of the sentence then uses the conditional tense (sería, meaning "would be") to show what the imaginary result would be.
Why does usáramos have an accent mark?
In the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros form always has an accent mark on the vowel right before the -ramos (or -semos) ending. This keeps the spoken stress on the correct syllable. Without the written accent, the rules of Spanish pronunciation would naturally move the stress to the second-to-last syllable, changing how the word sounds.
When talking about how food tastes, don't we usually use estar? Why is it sería here instead of estaría?
You are right that we usually use estar to describe how a specific dish tastes when you eat it (for example, la comida está rica). However, the subject here is the noun el sabor (the flavor). Because we are describing what the flavor itself is like as a concept or characteristic, we use ser. If the subject were the food instead of the flavor, you could say la comida estaría horrible.
Is crudo a false friend for the English word "crude"?
Yes, it is a partial false friend. When talking about food, materials, or ingredients, crudo means "raw." As a fun bonus tip for Latin America: in Mexico, estar crudo is the most common slang phrase used to say you are hungover!
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