Breakdown of Como no nieva, me doy cuenta de que el teleférico está cerrado.
no
no, not
estar
to be (location/state)
cerrado
closed
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
como
since / because (at the beginning of a sentence)
darse cuenta de
to realize
nevar
to snow
el teleférico
cable car
Questions & Answers about Como no nieva, me doy cuenta de que el teleférico está cerrado.
Why is como used to mean "since" here, and could I put it in the middle of the sentence instead?
In Spanish, como can mean "since" or "because" when it introduces a cause, but only if it is placed at the very beginning of the sentence. If you moved it to the middle (Me doy cuenta de que el teleférico está cerrado como no nieva), it would sound unnatural or be confused with the comparative "like/how." To express "because" in the middle of a sentence, you should use porque instead.
Why is there a de before que in me doy cuenta de que?
The verb phrase meaning "to realize" is darse cuenta de. Because the preposition de is a built-in part of this phrase, it must stay there even when followed by the conjunction que (that). Dropping the de here is a common mistake for English speakers, but saying darse cuenta que is considered grammatically incorrect.
Why do we use está instead of es in está cerrado?
We use estar with the past participle cerrado because it describes the current state or condition of the cable car (it is currently in a closed state). If you used es cerrado, it would imply a passive, recurring action (e.g., "it is closed by the staff every day") rather than describing how the speaker finds it right now.
Why is it nieva and not a phrase with hace like other weather expressions?
While many weather expressions use hacer (like hace frío or hace sol), precipitation usually involves standalone verbs like nevar (to snow) and llover (to rain). Nevar is a stem-changing verb (e to ie), so it becomes nieva. Like all weather verbs, it is only conjugated in the third-person singular.
Learn Como no nieva, me doy cuenta de que el teleférico está cerrado and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free