Hello, I'm trying to get a better understanding of when to use different constructions.
Specifically:
Si Amalia va al mercado, comprará pescado fresco.
Si Amalia fuera al mercado, compraría pescado fresco.
These two constructions express the same idea. How do we know which one to choose? Is our choice solely based on the probability of the action in the "si" clause?
Thanks.
I think it depends on what we are trying to say. For example:
If Amalia goes to the market, she will buy fish. (Very likely. It looks like we will have fish for dinner).
If Amalia went to the market, she would already buy fish. (Almost impossible. It's already late, Amalia is not back, and it looks like we won't have fish for dinner).
Hola Marcos
As Gennady says, it's all about the degree of possibility.
I believe the use is very similar to the English sentences using the different tenses in conditional type sentences.
With the first conditional: si + present, future - there is a possibility of this happening, it implies there might be already a plan in place to do this action.
WIth the second conditional: si + imperfect subj, conditional - there is no plan involved at all and it implies less possibility of this happening. It is completely hypothetical.
I hope it clarifies it.
Saludos
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard
Find your Spanish level