Word
El instructor dice que pises el embrague y el freno.
Meaning
The instructor says to press the clutch and the brake.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of El instructor dice que pises el embrague y el freno.
y
and
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
decir
to say / to tell
pisar
to step on
Questions & Answers about El instructor dice que pises el embrague y el freno.
Why is pises in the subjunctive here?
The verb decir is being used to pass on a command or instruction, not just to report a fact. When you report a command using a verb of communication plus que, the second verb must be in the subjunctive. So, dice que pises translates to "he tells you to press" rather than "he says that you are pressing."
How would the meaning change if I used the indicative pisas instead of the subjunctive pises?
If you say El instructor dice que pisas el embrague, you are reporting a stated fact, not a command. It would mean "The instructor says that you are pressing the clutch." Using the subjunctive pises changes the meaning of decir into an instruction: "The instructor says to press the clutch."
Why use pises for pressing a pedal instead of a verb like presionar?
Who is the instructor telling to press the clutch, and how do we know?
The instructor is telling "you" (informal singular). We know this because pises is the tú form of the present subjunctive. Even without the pronoun tú written in the sentence, the verb ending makes it clear exactly who needs to step on the pedals.