Introductory phrase with subjunctive.

Question

When you are writing a list of tasks for a repairman, can you use the present tense in a conditional phrase and then switch to the subjunctive when you are telling him what do do? For example, "Si no puedes quitar el olor, repongas la alfombra."

Thank you all for the responses and the links. Learning English when I was 2 seemed so much easier than trying to learn it at almost 65. - warzone, Jan 16, 2013

"Learning it" of course refers to Spanish of course. - warzone, Jan 16, 2013

Answer 1

Sure you can - you might find this article useful about si and what should follow it:

Here's an excerpt:

c) Si + present tense + imperative/command form: to give an order (in the imperative) dependent on the condition being met (in the present).

Si llueve ... (If it rains) no salgas! (don't go out!)

Si puedes... (If you can...) llama mañana. (call tomorrow.)

Llama mañana (Call tomorrow) si puedes. (if you can)

Good stuff. Thanks for the link, Kiwi-Girl. - brian5764, Jan 16, 2013

de nada :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013

Answer 2

In general, yes, but I think after ¨si¨ (if) you automatically have to use the indicative. Hope someone chimes in. I´m still trying to get this down myself.

A good general rule is 'never' (although I hate that word when it comes to grammar jeje) 'never' follow si but the present subjunctive (although it can happily be followed by the imperfect past subjunctive. You will however hear some native speakers - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013

follow si with the present subjunctive especially if si comes after 'no se' :) This lesson might be a good refresher Rog - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013

http://learnenglishspanishonline.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7699520-si-clauses-como-si-talking-about-hypothetical-situations-in-spanish - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013

Thanks Kiwi. I¨ll be looking over all of that today. - rogspax, Jan 16, 2013

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013

Answer 3

Just to clear this up in my mind, is the form here really not the subjunctive, but rather the negative imperative? It's the same word, but is a different gramatical useage. Or am I more confused than I thought?

As wonderful as SD is, it doesn´t (in my opinion) have the best conjugators. You might try this one. Among other good points, they actually show the affirmative and negative command forms. http://www.123teachme.com/spanish_verb_conjugation - brian5764, Jan 16, 2013

Hi Noetol. As you probably know, most of the imperative forms overlap with the subjunctive, with the most notable exception being the affirmative imperative command for the tú form. Doesn´t sound to me like you´re confused at all. - brian5764, Jan 16, 2013

I agree Brian, I love the 123 conjugation sheets and use them all the time :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 16, 2013