Two thoughts in one sentence
Until now the course spoke in single replies. Four conjunctions tie two thoughts into one sentence, and three of them behave predictably. Que — 'that': creo que sí, dice que llega tarde. Unlike English, this que cannot be dropped: 'I think so' may skip its 'that', but creo sí is not a sentence. No comma is put before que either. For example: “Dice que no viene porque no tiene coche” — He says he is not coming…
How it works
Until now the course spoke in single replies. Four conjunctions tie two thoughts into one sentence, and three of them behave predictably. Que — 'that': creo que sí, dice que llega tarde. Unlike English, this que cannot be dropped: 'I think so' may skip its 'that', but creo sí is not a sentence. No comma is put before que either.
Porque — 'because', always inside the sentence and written as one word. Two look-alikes live nearby, and mixing them up is costly: ¿por qué? in two words with an accent is the question 'why', while el porqué with the article is the noun 'the reason'. If the reason stands at the front of the sentence, Spanish reaches not for porque but for como: como no había cobertura, no te llamé.
Si — 'if'. Here is the trap that catches even people who already speak: in a real condition no future tense is allowed after si. 'If it rains, we won't go' is si llueve, no vamos — present in both halves, or present plus future in the main one: si llueve, no iremos. English does exactly the same ('if it will rain' is wrong there too), but the form si lloverá still feels natural — it does not exist.
Cuando — 'when', and with it comes the course's first step into subjuntivo. About the past and about habits cuando takes ordinary tenses: cuando llegué, no había nadie, cuando llego a casa, ceno. But about the future — only the special form: cuando llegues, llámame, cuando sea Navidad, iremos al pueblo. The logic is simple: the future has not happened yet, and Spanish flags it as not-yet-real with a separate verb form. It is built by swapping the vowels of the present: in -ar verbs the endings turn into -e (llegue), in -er and -ir — into -a (comas, vivas). For now, recognizing it on sight after cuando, quizás and para que is enough.
Table
| conjunction | what it introduces | verb form after it | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| que | 'that' | ordinary | creo que sí |
| porque | a cause | ordinary | no voy porque estoy cansado |
| como | a cause at the front of the sentence | ordinary | como es tarde, me voy |
| si | a condition | present, never future | si puedo, te llamo |
| cuando (about the past) | time | ordinary | cuando llegué |
| cuando (about the future) | time | subjuntivo | cuando llegues |
By example
- Dice que no viene porque no tiene cocheHe says he is not coming because he has no car
- Si llueve mañana, no vamos de excursiónIf it rains tomorrow, we're not going on the excursion
- Cuando llegues a casa, mándame un mensajeWhen you get home, send me a message
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Two thoughts in one sentence: how does it work in Spanish?
Until now the course spoke in single replies. Four conjunctions tie two thoughts into one sentence, and three of them behave predictably. Que — 'that': creo que sí, dice que llega tarde. Unlike English, this que cannot be dropped: 'I think so' may skip its 'that', but creo sí is not a sentence. No…
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Dice que no viene porque no tiene coche” — He says he is not coming because he has no car. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.