Breakdown of Usa el taladro despacio de manera que el clavo entre bien.
usar
to use / to wear
bien
well
entrar
to enter
despacio
slowly
el taladro
drill (tool)
el clavo
nail
de manera que
so that (in such a way that)
Questions & Answers about Usa el taladro despacio de manera que el clavo entre bien.
Why is the subjunctive entre used here after de manera que?
In this lesson, we learn that de manera que can introduce either an established result or an intended purpose. Because the nail going in well is the intended purpose of using the drill slowly, rather than an established fact, it requires the subjunctive entre.
How would the meaning change if I used the indicative and said de manera que el clavo entra bien?
If you use the indicative entra, the phrase de manera que expresses an actual result rather than an intended purpose. It would translate more like, 'You use the drill slowly, so as a result the nail goes in well.' Because this sentence is a command aiming for a desired future outcome, the subjunctive is required.
Why is the command form usa instead of uses?
For informal affirmative commands (telling someone you address as tú to do something), Spanish uses the exact same form as the he/she/it present indicative tense. If this were a negative command ('Don't use the drill...'), it would switch to the subjunctive: no uses el taladro.
Wait, clavo means nail. Wouldn't you normally use a drill for a screw instead?
Good catch! You generally use a hammer (martillo) for a nail (clavo) and a drill (taladro) for a screw (tornillo). The speaker here might be talking about pre-drilling a pilot hole so the nail doesn't split the wood, or they might have simply mixed up their hardware terms. Regardless, the grammatical structure works perfectly.
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