Word
Podemos convivir en paz siempre que nadie invada el espacio privado.
Meaning
We can live together in peace provided that nobody invades the private space.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Podemos convivir en paz siempre que nadie invada el espacio privado.
en
in / on / at
siempre
always
poder
to be able to / can
que
that / than
Questions & Answers about Podemos convivir en paz siempre que nadie invada el espacio privado.
Why do we use the subjunctive invada instead of the indicative invade here?
The phrase siempre que means "provided that" or "as long as" and sets up a strict condition for something else to happen. In Spanish, conditional expressions like this always trigger the subjunctive because they describe a hypothetical requirement, not a declared fact.
I've seen siempre que used to mean "whenever." How do I know it means "provided that" here?
The key is the verb mood! When siempre que is followed by the indicative (like siempre que alguien invade), it means "whenever" and describes a habitual action. Because it is followed by the subjunctive invada in this sentence, it shifts to meaning "provided that" or "as long as" and sets a condition.
Could I replace siempre que with siempre y cuando or con tal de que in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Both siempre y cuando and con tal de que also mean "provided that" or "as long as" and also require the subjunctive. They are interchangeable with siempre que in this context, though con tal de que sometimes carries a slightly stronger sense of "on the sole condition that."
Why use the verb convivir instead of just saying vivir juntos?