Question about a si Clause

Question

Hi folks,

If I wanted to say. . ."If my client comes, please call me."

Would I say:

Si viene mi cliente, por favor me hablas.

or

Si viene mi cliente por favor me habla. (Habla as a tú command).

or

Si viene mi cliente por favor me hables.

Also, why would venir not be in the subjunctive (I know it wouldn't be, but I am not sure of the grammatical rule that makes it that way).

¡Mil gracias!

If you fancy a fun way to get some practice in with the Subjunctive, join us over here http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/157162/g-a-m-e-the-subjunctive :) - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 28, 2010

Answer 1

If you are at the office or wherever the client is expected, you shoud use venir. If you are elsewhere and talking to the person on the phone, you should use llegar. Also, cuando best translates to if in some sentences like this, and si to when.

Cuando venga mi cliente, llámeme por favor. = If my client comes, please call me.

Si viene mi cliente, llámeme por favor. = When my client comes, please call me.

In the first case, you are not sure if the client is coming, while in the second you are pretty sure he's coming, you just don't know when.

Wonderful answer. I wish that I could vote more than once. - 0074b507, Sep 28, 2010

Answer 2

A couple things about your translations. First, "hablar" means "to talk", not "to call". The word you're looking for here is "llamar". Second, even if "hablar" were the right verb, when you use a verb like "hablar" that needs to use an object pronoun, you can't separate it from the pronoun in imperative mode like you did with "me habla". You have to say: "háblame" or in this case "llámame". If you prefer Ud. you'd say "hábleme" and "llámeme", but never "me hable" or "me llame". Lastly, "por favor" usually goes after the verb it modifies, not in front of it, unless it is used in the beginning of the sentence.

Answer 3

This may help: The Subjunctive and 'if' clauses

And this is a quote from About.com

In open conditions, conditions where the possibility is reasonably likely, si is followed by the present indicative tense (the most common tense, probably the first one you learned as a Spanish student). If the condition is unlikely or false, a past subjunctive (usually the imperfect subjunctive) is used. This is the case even when the condition is something that refers to the present.

Si tengo dinero, me iré de viaje. If I have money, I'll go on a trip. (open condition)

as opposed to -

Si tuviera dinero, iría al cine. (If I had the money, I would go to the movies.)

Answer 4

"If my client comes, please call me."

I would use "llegar" (arrive) rather than "venir" (to come) in this sentence.

Si llegue mi cliente, llámame por favor. (as an informal tú command)

Si lluege mi cliente, llámeme por favor. (as a formal and polite usted command)

"llegar" means arrive like you said, it wouldn't fit well in this context unless he was out of town. Also, in both of your sentences it should be "llega", present indicative. - bill1111, Sep 28, 2010