Breakdown of En caso de que tú y yo tengamos que coexistir, evitemos el bucle.
yo
I
tú
you (informal singular)
de
from / of
y
and
tener
to have
en
in / on / at
que
that / than
evitar
to avoid
el caso
the case
el bucle
the loop (circuit, cycle)
coexistir
to coexist
Questions & Answers about En caso de que tú y yo tengamos que coexistir, evitemos el bucle.
Why does this sentence use the subjunctive tengamos instead of the indicative tenemos?
The phrase en caso de que (in case that) is a contingency conjunction that introduces a condition that might or might not happen. In Spanish, this phrase always strictly triggers the subjunctive mood, which is why we use tengamos here.
The subject is tú y yo, so why is the verb conjugated in the nosotros form (tengamos)?
What grammatical structure is evitemos serving in the second half of the sentence?
It is a nosotros command, which translates to 'let's avoid'. To suggest that 'we' do something together, Spanish uses the nosotros form of the present subjunctive as an imperative.
Could I just use si (if) instead of en caso de que?
You could, but it changes the grammar. If you use si, you must drop the subjunctive and use the indicative for a likely situation: si tú y yo tenemos que coexistir. Using en caso de que emphasizes taking a precaution 'just in case' and makes the subjunctive mandatory.
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