Would you use subjunctive here?

Question

This air bed has a small leak. If you would like to try to fix it, you can have it.

Este colchón inflable tiene una fuga pequeña. Si quieras tratar de arreglarlo, puedes tenerlo.

Or indicative:

Si quieres tratar...

I thought I knew the answer to this, but I'm having a brain fade.

Answer 1

I'd say no. I wouldn't put "Si quieres" in the subjunctive.

Remember that we don't use the present subjunctive after "si."

You beat me to it. - 0074b507, Jan 22, 2011

great answer :) - Izanoni1, Jan 22, 2011

Answer 2

You have tou use imperfect:

• Si tú(optional tú) quisieras intentar arreglarlo, puedes quedártelo, although in this case I would use another common phrase: Si te animas a arreglarlo, puedes quedártelo.

I originally had quisieras, but the translator gave me a weird translation, so I changed it to present. - KevinB, Jan 22, 2011

Well, the thing is that the correct translation for "would like to" is "quisieras", but on the other hand "Si quieres arreglarlo" is maybe the most common way to say it. - Dakie, Jan 22, 2011

Thanks. That's what I thought. - KevinB, Jan 22, 2011

Answer 3

Spanish subjunctive

Reminders/tips

1. The present subjunctive is NOT used after si (“if”)!

Answer 4

Kevin I was reading through/looking through some notes on the subjunctive mood that I had taken down from Paralee's lesson and noticed these three requisites need/have to be present for the subjunctive to be used:

1 Two different themes: 1 in main clause and 1 in subordinate clause

2 A relative pronoun that links the two sentneces: eg 'que' ( si = if is a conjunction)

3 There should be two verbs

In my view the absence of a relative pronoun connecting the two clauses would call into question the use of the subjunctive mood here.

It sounds better here:using the indicative form: si quieres tratar de arreglarlo, puedes tenerlo.

*I also looked at some examples of sentences in the Spanish section of my dictionary and none of them used the subjunctive following 'si'**

I hope this helps

Answer 5

I figured it would not be subjunctive, but now I wonder if it should be conditional instead...

Si querrías tratar de arreglarlo, puedes hacerlo.

What do you think?

Answer 6

Este colchón inflable tiene una pequeña fuga. Si quieres tratar de arreglarlo, puedes hacerlo. Haz lo que quieras. Ejemplos de cuándo usar indicativo y subjuntivo.

I want to say have, not do, so I'm pretty sure tener is right. My question is quieras vs. quieres. - KevinB, Jan 22, 2011

Puedes tenerlo no tiene sentido en este contexto. You must use quieres. - miselfyo, Jan 22, 2011