Breakdown of De sobrecalentarse la turbina, cancelaremos la operación.
la
the (feminine)
cancelar
to cancel
la operación
the operation
de
if (+ infinitive)
la turbina
the turbine
sobrecalentarse
to overheat
Questions & Answers about De sobrecalentarse la turbina, cancelaremos la operación.
How does de sobrecalentarse translate to "if it overheats"?
Using de followed by an infinitive is an alternative way to form an "if" clause in Spanish. Here, De sobrecalentarse la turbina is a slightly more formal or technical way of saying Si la turbina se sobrecalienta (If the turbine overheats). Both express the exact same condition for the future event.
Why does the subject la turbina come after the verb sobrecalentarse?
Could I put the reflexive pronoun se before the verb here, like de se sobrecalentar?
No. Because the verb is in its infinitive form (sobrecalentar), any reflexive or object pronouns must be attached directly to the end of it. It is never correct to place the pronoun before the infinitive when it is the main verb of this conditional phrase.
Why do we need the reflexive se at the end of sobrecalentarse?
The base verb sobrecalentar is transitive, meaning "to overheat [something else]." By adding the reflexive pronoun se, it indicates a change of state where the turbine "gets overheated" or "overheats itself." If we left off the se, the sentence would sound like the turbine was overheating some other unspecified object.
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