Breakdown of Aunque tenemos electricidad, compré la radio y el encendedor por si acaso.
y
and
tener
to have
comprar
to buy
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
si
if
la electricidad
the electricity
aunque
although / even though
acaso
by chance / just in case (with 'por si')
el encendedor
the lighter
la radio
the radio
Questions & Answers about Aunque tenemos electricidad, compré la radio y el encendedor por si acaso.
Why is tenemos in the indicative instead of the subjunctive here?
After aunque (even though / although), you use the indicative when stating a known, established fact. Since the speaker knows they currently have electricity, they use tenemos. If they had used the subjunctive (tengamos), it would change the meaning to 'even if we have electricity.'
How does por si acaso work when there is no verb after it?
Por si acaso translates to 'just in case.' When used at the end of a sentence like this, it stands alone to imply a general precaution without needing to spell out the exact scenario. If you wanted to add the specific situation, you could drop acaso and add an indicative verb, like por si se va la luz (in case the power goes out).
Could I just say por si at the end of the sentence instead of por si acaso?
Why is it la radio if the word ends in 'o'?
Radio is a classic exception to the gender rule because it is originally short for la radiodifusión (broadcasting), which is feminine. While some speakers in Latin America use el radio to refer specifically to the physical receiver, la radio is standard and widely used for both the medium and the device itself.
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