IF Clauses

1
IF Clauses
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Si Clauses

• Si (if) is an adverbial conjunction, but
  its different from all other adverbial
  conjunctions. It NEVER gets the PRESENT
  subjuntive
• Juan siempre almuerza si tiene tiempo.
• Juan va a almorzar si tiene tiempo.
• In these sentences, the present INDICATIVE
  follows si. The present subjunctive never
  does. However, the IMPERFECT subjunctive
  frequently does follow si.

3

• Some si clauses are called contrary to fact
  clauses
• If it were raining (but its not), we would
  leave.
• If I were you (but Im not), I would study more.
• If I had a million dollars (but I dont), Id buy
  a Ferrari.
• All of these if clauses are contrary to fact,
  and you use the imperfect subjunctive in them
• Si lloviera, saldríamos.
• Si fuera tú, estudiaría más.
• Si tuviera un millón de dólares, compraría un
  Ferrari.

4

• Look carefully at the verbs in these sentences
  from the previous page
• Si lloviera, saldríamos.
• Si fuera tú, estudiaría más.
• Si tuviera un millón de dólares, compraría un
  Ferrari.
• In all three sentences, the verb after si is in
  the imperfect subjunctive, and the main verb is
  conditional. Those two tenses are MARRIED. If
  you have imperfect subjunctive in the si
  clause, you HAVE to have the conditional in the
  main clause. If you have the conditional in the
  main clause, you HAVE to have the imperfect
  subjunctive in the si clause. If you have one,
  you have to have the other. If you dont have
  one, you cant have the other.

5

• And if you dont have either one of those, you
  use whatever indicative tense makes sense
• Si llueve, Juan no va. If its raining, Juan
  isnt going.
• Si llovió, Juan no fue. If it rained, Juan
  didnt go. (We dont know if it rained or not,
  but if it did, Juan stayed home.)

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• Click here to go to a brief practice exercise.