Learn Spanish (Latin America): Si la lluvia no llega pronto, la pérdida será terrible. - If the rain does not arrive soon, the loss will be terrible.

Si la lluvia no llega pronto, la pérdida será terrible.

If the rain does not arrive soon, the loss will be terrible.

Breakdown of Si la lluvia no llega pronto, la pérdida será terrible.

Questions & Answers about Si la lluvia no llega pronto, la pérdida será terrible.

Why do we use the present tense llega after si when we are talking about the future?

In Spanish, just like in English, "if" clauses referring to a likely future event use the present indicative tense. You cannot use the future tense or the present subjunctive immediately after si in this type of conditional sentence. The main clause then uses the future tense (será).

Why does pérdida have an accent mark?

The accent distinguishes the noun pérdida (loss) from the adjective or past participle perdida (lost, as in una llave perdida). It also tells you to stress the third-to-last syllable, making it an "esdrújula" word, which always requires an accent mark in Spanish.

Why is it será terrible rather than estará terrible?

We use the verb ser because we are describing an essential characteristic of the loss itself. Evaluating an event as a disaster or a success usually takes ser because you are defining its nature, rather than describing a temporary state or condition.

How could we rewrite this sentence to use the current lesson's grammar, such as por más que?

To change the meaning to "No matter how soon the rain arrives, the loss will be terrible," you would say: Por más que la lluvia llegue pronto, la pérdida será terrible. You must use the subjunctive llegue after por más que because the rain's arrival is a hypothetical future event.