Real conditionals in Spanish: si + present, and what follows
A real conditional is si plus the present indicative, then a result: si llueve, no salimos. The si half never takes the present subjunctive, so si llueva is impossible. The result half can be a present, a voy a future, or a command. Put the si clause first and a comma follows it. Put it second and there is no comma.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
The shape
A real conditional is about something that genuinely might happen. Two halves: the condition, carried by si, and the result.
Si tengo tiempo, te llamo.
The si half is in the present indicative. That is the part to fix in place before anything else, because English makes it look optional and it is not.
The result half is freer. Four things can sit there:
| Result | Example |
|---|---|
| present | Si tengo tiempo, te llamo. |
| ir a future | Si llueve, no vamos a salir. |
| -ré future | Si estudias, aprobarás. |
| command | Si llegas temprano, avísame. |
All four are ordinary and you will hear all four in a day in Lima.
The rule that is absolute
Si is never followed by the present subjunctive. Not sometimes, not in careful speech, not in writing. Si llueva, si quieras, si tengas — none of these exist.
- Si quieres, te acompaño. — not si quieras.
- Si puedes, avísame. — not si puedas.
This matters because almost every other trigger word at B1 and B2 does take the subjunctive, so learners over-apply it. Si is the exception you can rely on.
What si does take, in the other kind of conditional, is the imperfect subjunctive — si tuviera tiempo, te llamaría. That is a different structure for a different job, and it has its own lesson.
Cuando is not si
The contrast that makes the rule stick. Both words introduce a condition-ish clause about the future, and they behave in opposite ways.
- Si llega temprano, comemos juntos. — indicative. Maybe he arrives.
- Cuando llegue temprano, comemos juntos. — subjunctive. He will arrive; the only question is when.
Si means it might not happen. Cuando means it will.
Word order and the comma
Both orders are normal, and the punctuation follows a simple rule.
- Si no hay pasaje, vamos a pie. — si first, comma after the first half.
- Vamos a pie si no hay pasaje. — si second, no comma at all.
What this sounds like in Lima
Two patterns worth having ready.
Si quieres, … — the standard soft offer. Si quieres, te acompaño. Si quieres, lo dejamos para mañana. It softens a suggestion without any of the machinery of the conditional tense.
¿Y si…? — the way proposals actually get made. ¿Y si vamos el sábado? ¿Y si mejor pedimos delivery? Literally “and if”, used exactly like English “what if”.
And one spelling point that is not pedantry: si means “if”, sí with an accent means “yes”. They are different words and the accent is the only thing separating them.
Try it
- Si ___ (tener) tiempo, te acompaño al mercado.
- Si ___ (llover) mañana, no vamos a ir a la playa.
- ___ llegue, te aviso. (he definitely will arrive)
- Si ___ (llamar) el jefe, dile que estoy en una reunión.
→ 1 tengo · 2 llueve · 3 Cuando · 4 llama.
Related
- Spanish unreal conditionals: if I had, I would have — what happens when the condition is not real
- The Spanish conditional: would, politeness, and guessing
- The Spanish imperative: commands, and how to soften them — the result half of half these sentences
Topics ConditionalsPeruvian Spanish
Si + what, exactly?
Seven on real conditionals, including the subjunctive that never turns up and the one that does.
-
1Si ___ tiempo, te acompaño al mercado.
Answer
tengo — The *si* half of a real conditional is the present indicative. *Si tenga* does not exist, and *si tuviera* belongs to the unreal version — “if I had time, I would go with you”.
-
2“If it rains tomorrow, we're not going to the beach” is:
Answer
Si llueve mañana, no vamos a ir a la playa. — The condition stays in the present even though it is about tomorrow. The future lives in the result half, here as *vamos a ir*.
-
3Which is punctuated correctly?
Answer
Si llego temprano, te llamo. — When the *si* clause comes first, a comma separates the two halves. When it comes second there is no comma at all: *te llamo si llego temprano*.
-
4___ llegue, te aviso. (he is definitely arriving — the only question is when)
Answer
Cuando — *Cuando* about a future event takes the subjunctive *llegue*. *Si* never does — it would have to be *si llega*, and it would mean he might not come at all.
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5Which sentence means “yes, I do want to”?
Answer
Sí, quiero. — *Sí* with an accent is “yes”; *si* without one is “if”. The accent is the only thing separating two very different sentences.
-
6“¿Y si vamos el sábado?” means:
Answer
What if we go on Saturday? — *¿Y si...?* is how proposals get made in conversation, exactly like English “what if”. The verb stays in the present indicative.
-
7Si ___ el jefe, dile que estoy en una reunión.
Answer
llama — Present indicative after *si*, even with a command in the other half. *Si llame* is not possible in any register.