Breakdown of Pon limón y jengibre en el agua y curas tu tos.
y
and
en
in / on / at
tu
your
el agua
water
poner
to put
curar
to cure / to treat
la tos
the cough
el limón
lemon
el jengibre
ginger
Questions & Answers about Pon limón y jengibre en el agua y curas tu tos.
Why are we using the command pon followed by y instead of a normal si (if) sentence?
Why does the second half use the present tense curas instead of the future tense curarás?
In this specific structure (Imperative + y + Result), you can use either the present indicative or the future tense. Choosing the present tense curas makes the outcome sound much more immediate and guaranteed, as if the cure happens the exact moment you drink the water.
How do I know the gender of tos here?
Tos (cough) is a feminine noun, making it la tos. You can't see the gender in this sentence because the possessive adjective tu is the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. If you wanted to describe it, you would use feminine adjectives, like una tos severa.
Could I use the subjunctive cures for the second verb since the cure hasn't happened yet?
No, the subjunctive doesn't work here. Even though the cure is in the future, this grammar structure exists to state a guaranteed result. Because you are declaring what will definitively happen, you must use the indicative mood, so either curas or curarás is required.
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