Breakdown of Lo importante es que, si no hubiera fumado, no habría habido una explosión.
ser
to be
no
no, not
una
a, an (feminine)
haber
to be (there is / there are)
importante
important
que
that / than
fumar
to smoke
si
if
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
la explosión
the explosion
Questions & Answers about Lo importante es que, si no hubiera fumado, no habría habido una explosión.
Why are hubiera fumado and habría habido used in this sentence?
This sentence uses the classic 'unreal past conditional' structure to describe a hypothetical situation that didn't actually happen. The si (if) clause takes the past perfect subjunctive (hubiera fumado) to establish the past condition, and the main clause takes the conditional perfect (habría habido) to describe the hypothetical result.
Why does habría habido use the verb haber twice?
It translates to 'there would have been.' The first verb, habría, is the auxiliary (helping) verb 'would have.' The second verb, habido, is the past participle of haber used in its impersonal sense meaning 'there to be.' Put them together, and you get 'there would have been.'
Why does the sentence start with Lo importante instead of El importante?
Because importante is an adjective. When you want to turn an adjective into an abstract noun meaning 'the [adjective] thing,' you use the neuter article lo. So, lo importante means 'the important thing.' Using el importante would refer to a specific important man or masculine noun.
Could I say si no hubiese fumado instead of si no hubiera fumado?
Absolutely. The -ra and -se endings for the past perfect subjunctive are interchangeable. In Latin America, the -ra form (hubiera) is much more common in everyday speech, but you will definitely see and hear the -se form (hubiese) in literature and formal contexts.
Is the que strictly necessary after Lo importante es?
Yes. In English, we can often drop 'that' and just say 'The important thing is, if he hadn't smoked...' In Spanish, you cannot drop the conjunction que when connecting these clauses. It must always be Lo importante es que.
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