Question 1

How does the 'if' structure work in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

This sentence shows the first conditional, which is used for real or very possible situations. It uses si (if) followed by a verb in the present tense (tiene), and then another present tense verb (puede) for the result. It works exactly like saying 'If this happens, that happens' in English.

Question 2

Why isn't there a word for 'he' in the second half of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, you don't need to repeat the subject if it's already clear. Because the first half of the sentence is about el chico (the boy), we already know he is the one who cannot sail, so we can just say no puede navegar instead of él no puede navegar.

Question 3

Why is the verb navegar left in its dictionary form (the infinitive)?

Accepted Answer

When you have two verbs working together to express a single idea, like being able to do something, only the first verb is conjugated. Here, puede (can) is conjugated to match the boy, so the second verb navegar (to sail) stays in the infinitive.

Question 4

Why does brújula have an accent mark on the u?

Accepted Answer

The accent mark shows you where to put the stress when speaking. Without it, the rules of Spanish would make you stress the second-to-last syllable (bru-JU-la). The accent tells you to stress the third-to-last syllable instead: BRU-ju-la.

Si el chico no tiene la brújula, no puede navegar.

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