Learn Spanish (Latin America): De aumentar el voltaje, el panel fallará. - If the voltage increases, the panel will fail.

The structure de + infinitive is used to form a conditional "if" clause. In this sentence, de aumentar is exactly equivalent to si aumenta (if it increases). It is a highly efficient way to state a condition without needing to conjugate the verb in the "if" half of the sentence.

Why use de + infinitive instead of just using si?

While si is universal, de + infinitive has a slightly more formal, objective, or technical tone. Because this sentence is about electronics (el voltaje, el panel), this structure sounds exactly like a warning you would read in a technical manual or instruction booklet. In casual everyday speech, people would usually just say si aumenta el voltaje.

In de aumentar el voltaje, why is el voltaje placed after the verb?

In Spanish, when an infinitive acts as the verb of a phrase and has its own subject, that subject almost always comes immediately after the infinitive. We see this in other structures too, like al salir el sol (when the sun comes out). Here, el voltaje is the subject doing the increasing, so it directly follows aumentar.

How would this sentence change if I wanted to say "If the voltage had increased"?