Word
Retirar el polvo del telar para evitar un incendio.
Meaning
Remove the dust from the loom to avoid a fire.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Retirar el polvo del telar para evitar un incendio.
un
a, an (masculine)
del
from the / of the
para
for
el polvo
the dust
Questions & Answers about Retirar el polvo del telar para evitar un incendio.
Why does this sentence start with the infinitive Retirar instead of a command like Retire?
This is an example of an independent infinitive. In Spanish, it is very common to use the infinitive instead of a conjugated imperative for impersonal written instructions, safety warnings, recipes, or signs. It tells anyone reading it what to do without addressing a specific "you."
Could I use the verb quitar instead of retirar to say "remove"?
Why use incendio for "fire" here instead of fuego?
Fuego refers to the general element of fire, or a controlled fire (like a campfire or the flame on a gas stove). An incendio is a destructive, uncontrolled fire (like a building fire or a wildfire). Since the dust on a loom would cause an accidental, dangerous fire, incendio is the exact word needed here.
Why do we use para instead of por before evitar?