Breakdown of Por mucho que usen el fertilizante caro, la semilla no crece.
no
no, not
mucho
many / a lot
caro
expensive
usar
to use / to wear
que
that / than
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
crecer
to grow
la semilla
seed
el fertilizante
fertilizer (chemical)
Questions & Answers about Por mucho que usen el fertilizante caro, la semilla no crece.
Why is usen in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative usan?
After por mucho que (no matter how much), using the subjunctive (usen) shows that the action is either hypothetical, or it is a known background fact that the speaker dismisses as irrelevant to the outcome. If you used the indicative (usan), it would forcefully declare a concrete new fact: 'despite the fact that they are using it'. The subjunctive gives the feeling of 'no matter how much they might use it'.
Could I use por más que instead of por mucho que in this sentence?
Why doesn't the second verb, crece, also use the subjunctive?
The subjunctive is only triggered inside the concessive clause (the part starting with por mucho que). The main clause (la semilla no crece) states the concrete result or reality. Since it is declaring a fact—the seed simply isn't growing—it requires the indicative.
Would mucho change to mucha or muchos if we were talking about a feminine or plural noun?
Not in this specific sentence structure. Here, mucho modifies the verb usen (describing how much they use something), making it an adverb that never changes form. However, if you rearranged the sentence to modify a noun directly—meaning 'no matter how much [noun]'—it acts as an adjective and must agree, as in por mucha agua que usen.
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