Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ojalá que este cactus sobreviva en el interior.

Ojalá que este cactus sobreviva en el interior.

Hopefully this cactus survives indoors.

Breakdown of Ojalá que este cactus sobreviva en el interior.

Questions & Answers about Ojalá que este cactus sobreviva en el interior.

Why is sobreviva in the subjunctive here?

The word ojalá expresses a strong wish or hope, and it always triggers the subjunctive mood for the verb that follows it. That is why we use the present subjunctive sobreviva instead of the present indicative sobrevive.

Do you always have to use que after ojalá?

No, the que is completely optional. You will frequently hear both ojalá que and just ojalá by itself before a verb. Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.

The word cactus ends in an "s". How do you make it plural?

We know it is singular here because it uses the singular adjective este (this). Because cactus ends in an "s" and its final syllable is unstressed, the noun itself doesn't change in the plural. To say "these cacti", you just change the surrounding words to match: estos cactus.

How does en el interior differ from adentro for the word "indoors"?

While both can mean "inside", en el interior specifically refers to being indoors as an environment or setting (inside a house or building), which makes perfect sense when talking about a houseplant's living conditions. Adentro is generally used more as a relative location or a direction (like going inside).