Learn Spanish (Latin America): Almacenamos más provisiones por si acaso la tormenta empeora. - We are storing more provisions just in case the storm worsens.

Almacenamos más provisiones por si acaso la tormenta empeora.

We are storing more provisions just in case the storm worsens.

Breakdown of Almacenamos más provisiones por si acaso la tormenta empeora.

más

the (feminine)

por

for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)

la tormenta

the storm

Questions & Answers about Almacenamos más provisiones por si acaso la tormenta empeora.

Why does por si acaso trigger the indicative (empeora) instead of the subjunctive?

Even though "just in case" describes a hypothetical situation, the phrases por si and por si acaso are exceptions to the usual rules. They always take the indicative mood (like the present tense empeora here) rather than the subjunctive.

Would it ever be correct to use the imperfect tense (empeoraba) in this sentence?

Only if the main action was in the past. If you wanted to say "We stored provisions just in case the storm worsened," you would use the imperfect: por si acaso la tormenta empeoraba. Because this sentence is happening now, we use the present tense.

What does acaso add to por si here?

Por si means "in case," and adding acaso makes it slightly more emphatic, translating better to "just in case." They are grammatically identical and completely interchangeable in everyday speech.

Since almacenamos can be both present and past tense, how do we know it means "we are storing" here?

Context clues! Because the condition uses the present tense (empeora), we know the main verb is also in the present. If almacenamos were meant as the past tense ("we stored"), the second verb would have shifted to the past as well (empeoraba).