Breakdown of La directora te ayudará siempre que asumas el riesgo.
ayudar
to help
te
to you / yourself (reflexive) / you (direct object)
el director
the director / the head teacher
el riesgo
the risk
siempre que
as long as
asumir
to assume; to take on, to accept (responsibility, consequences)
Questions & Answers about La directora te ayudará siempre que asumas el riesgo.
Why is "asumas" in the subjunctive here?
The phrase siempre que is acting as a conditional linker here, meaning "as long as" or "provided that". When setting a strict condition for a future action (the director helping you), Spanish requires the subjunctive mood for the condition itself. Therefore, we use the present subjunctive asumas instead of the indicative asumes.
Doesn't "siempre que" usually mean "whenever"? How do I know it means "as long as" in this sentence?
It can mean both! The trick is to look at the verb mood. When siempre que is followed by the indicative, it means "whenever" (describing a repeated, habitual action). When it is followed by the subjunctive, as in siempre que asumas, it introduces a condition and means "as long as" or "provided that".
Could I replace "siempre que" with the other conditional linkers we are learning, like "con tal de que"?
Is "asumir el riesgo" the only way to say "assume the risk" or "take a risk"?
Asumir el riesgo is a very natural and exact translation for "assuming the risk" (taking on the responsibility or consequences). If you want to say "to take a risk" in the sense of doing something dangerous or uncertain, you will also frequently hear correr un riesgo (literally, "to run a risk"). Both are extremely common at this level!
Learn La directora te ayudará siempre que asumas el riesgo and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free