Breakdown of Posiblemente el clima empeore y el viento sea severo.
ser
to be
y
and
el clima
the weather
el viento
the wind
empeorar
to get worse
posiblemente
possibly
severo
severe
Questions & Answers about Posiblemente el clima empeore y el viento sea severo.
Why are the verbs empeore and sea in the subjunctive instead of the normal present tense?
In Spanish, adverbs of probability like posiblemente can take either the indicative (regular present) or the subjunctive. We use the subjunctive when we want to express a higher degree of doubt. Since weather is unpredictable, using the subjunctive forms empeore and sea shows the speaker isn't completely certain this will happen.
Does posiblemente force both verbs in the sentence into the subjunctive?
Yes. The uncertainty introduced by posiblemente at the start of the sentence applies to the whole idea. Because the two actions are connected by y (and), the doubt carries over, making both empeorar and ser take their subjunctive forms (empeore and sea).
What is the infinitive of empeore, and is there an easy way to remember it?
The infinitive is empeorar, which means 'to get worse' or 'to worsen'. A great trick to remember it is to look at the middle of the word: it contains peor, which is the Spanish word for 'worse'. It is conjugated here as empeore because it is in the third-person singular of the present subjunctive.
I thought severo was a false friend that meant 'strict'. Can it mean 'severe' too?
It can mean both! When describing a person, severo usually means 'strict' or 'stern'. However, when talking about weather, rules, or medical conditions, it means 'severe' or 'extreme' just like in English. So viento severo translates perfectly to 'severe wind'.
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