Learn Spanish (Latin America): De bajar el voltaje, la computadora se apagará. - If the voltage drops, the computer will turn off.

De bajar el voltaje, la computadora se apagará.

If the voltage drops, the computer will turn off.

Breakdown of De bajar el voltaje, la computadora se apagará.

to go down / to lower

Questions & Answers about De bajar el voltaje, la computadora se apagará.

Why does the sentence start with De bajar instead of Si baja?

Using De followed by an infinitive is a more formal or written way to express a condition. It means exactly the same thing as si baja el voltaje (if the voltage drops), but it sounds a bit more technical or hypothetical. This structure is very common in manuals, instructions, or formal warnings.

Why does the subject el voltaje come right after the verb bajar?

When you use an infinitive phrase that has its own subject, Spanish almost always puts that subject immediately after the infinitive. Using the English word order and saying de el voltaje bajar would sound very unnatural to a native speaker.

I thought bajar meant to lower something. Who is lowering the voltage here?

Bajar can be used as an active action to mean to lower something (like a person lowering the volume), but it is also commonly used on its own to mean to go down or to drop. In this sentence, it simply means the voltage drops naturally.

Why do we use se apagará instead of just apagará?

The verb apagar generally means to turn something else off. Because the computer is powering down or turning itself off in this scenario, we use the reflexive form apagarse. Without the se, a listener might wait to hear what the computer is about to turn off!