A Conditional Sentence with "si"...

Question

Err, I have one a little troublesome sentence to translate and because I'm not sure if I'm translating it correctly, I decided to ask for a little help.

Él dijo que no saldría si empezaba a llover.

I'm not sure about the last part of the sentence, the one in italic.

If I'm wrong, then I hope you will explain why.

Sorry, total misunderstanding, I didn't realize you wanted English translation.. - annierats, May 28, 2012

Answer 1

I take it you are trying to translate the English "He said he would not go out if it began to rain".

This is my stab at the translation -" Él dijo que no saldría si empezara a llover."

This uses the imperfect subjunctive to imply the uncertainty of the rain "if it began to rain".

Noetol, you get my heartfelt vote. - annierats, May 28, 2012

But my teacher said that when the condition refers to the past but is REALIZABLE, we don't use Subjunctive, but the past tenses of the Indicative. - Parmgrin, May 28, 2012

Thanks, Annie! - Noetol, May 28, 2012

And here, the condition "if it began to rain" is realizable. It may not begin, but it may also begin. That's why I put Imperfecto de Indicativo. - Parmgrin, May 28, 2012

Parm - you don't have control over the weather, so it is not something that is realizable on your part. - Noetol, May 28, 2012

What I meant was... you have my vote Noetol :) - GuitarWarrior, May 28, 2012

¡Entiendo, Guitar! Gracias. :)) - Noetol, May 28, 2012

I would vote 3 times, if I could. Subjunctive, note. - annierats, May 28, 2012

"Él dijo que no saldría si empezara a llover" is ok from my point of view - miliard, May 28, 2012

Answer 2

Parm - you seem to be using terminologies that are unfamiliar or unusual to most of us here. Would you mind telling me where you are (in general terms), and what type of Spanish language program you are in? I'm just curious so I can learn about them.

Yo también :) - GuitarWarrior, May 28, 2012

I'm from Bulgaria and I'm a student in 8th grade, this is my first year of studying Spanish language. - Parmgrin, May 28, 2012

Excellent!! Your English is very good! Thanks for responding!:)) - Noetol, May 28, 2012

Ah, thank you very much! :)) - Parmgrin, May 28, 2012

Answer 3

El dijo que no saldría si empezara a llover??// Dijó que no saldrá si empezara a llover.. I prefer my second option.

Let's see what other people think.

When we have Plan Pasado (dijo), for Future Actions we use Conditional, not FUTURE tense. So your 2nd option "dijó que no saldrá" is wrong. Futhermore, "dijo" is irregular form and doesn't need an accent. - Parmgrin, May 28, 2012

Oh dear parmgrin, I didn't mean to upset you. I have never heard of plan pasado.. - annierats, May 28, 2012

Ihave never heard of it either. Is this a term for the preterit tense? - Noetol, May 28, 2012

I took it as reported seech, from which viewpoint it would have been in the future.. - annierats, May 28, 2012

speech, typo, sorry. - annierats, May 28, 2012

Answer 4

He said that he would not go if it started to rain.

Seems correct. The only difference is if you are using Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Cuba), Spanish (Mexico), etc.

I don't know what difference locol dialects would make here. Do you have some examples of this? - Noetol, May 28, 2012

None, as far as I know. - annierats, May 28, 2012

Answer 5

Él dijo que no saldrá si empieza a llover.

He said that he will not leave if it starts to rain.

"salir" has to match empezar, not "dijo." In this example, we can even scratch out "él dijo que" and just focus on the rest of the sentence. In this example it's important what might happen now. It's likely to happen in the near future, so "empieza" is in the indicative.

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Let's take out "he said" again and use the conditional tense.

Él no saldría si empezara a llover. - He would not go if it started to rain.

He could think that it's unlikely to rain, but since he is using the subjunctive, it is not declared that it is raining at that moment or even specifically when it will rain. All that's being said is that if it were to rain, he would not leave.

I hope this helped

Guitar, I fear it was me that used saldrá. I thought of it as peported, from the speakers point of view. Me doy por vencida. No te preocupes, buena explicación. - annierats, May 28, 2012

From the sppeakers point of view, I thought the future a possible option. Never mind, my option one stands up to scrutiny. - annierats, May 28, 2012

I thought it would be good to explain both examples just in case. Thanks Annie! :) - GuitarWarrior, May 28, 2012

Gracias, Guitar, if I could I would vote again..Good explanation. - annierats, May 29, 2012