Grammar From the Medical Spanish Podcast
It's been a while since I published the last lesson in the Spanish Grammar Review podcast. However, that’s not because I haven’t been podcasting about Spanish grammar. I just decided to dedicate the time I have outside of the hospital to my Medical Spanish Podcast and in the Medical Spanish Podcast, we cover a ton of advanced grammar within the context of clinical dialogues. Today’s podcast is an excerpt from our latest Medical Spanish podcast on the Covid vaccines. In this excerpt, we practice making a hypothetical if-then statement using the imperfect subjunctive and the conditional.
For this Spanish Grammar Review podcast, I have added a couple of examples where we then practice how to make and if-then statement that is not hypothetical, but reflects a real possibility.
Making If-Then Statements
Vocabulary
1:24la vacuna
vaccine
el núcleo
nucleus
el ADN
DNA
Hypothetical If-Then Statement
1:54Además, la vacuna nunca entra en el núcleo donde se encuentra el ADN y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.
aun si
even if
Y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.
And even if it did enter the nucleus, it would have no way to change your DNA.
- This is a CONDITIONAL (IF-THEN) STATEMENT, where we use the IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE to present the HYPOTHETICAL condition (“y aun si entrara en el núcleo”) and we use the CONDITIONAL to present the result of that condition (“no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN”).
Hypothetical vs Possible and AUNQUE
3:29- When making a conditional statement using AUN SI it acts just like SI, where we can use either the IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE (hypothetical possibility) or the INDICATIVE (likely possibility). It canNOT be followed by the PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
- Practice conditional statements in Spanish. Quiz #5 – The Subjunctive in Conditional Statements and More (Free lesson). Spanish Grammar members see: Subj15 Conditional Statements and Subj16 Conditional Statements
- You may recall that you can use AUNQUE + PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE to say, “even if.”
- Discussion of AUN SI and AUNQUE in Word Reference
- In this premium lesson we explain AUNQUE + SUBJUNTIVO = “even if”: Quiz # 4 – The Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses (Free lesson). Spanish Grammar members see: Subj14 How and Where. AUNQUE, unlike AUN SI, it can be used with either the imperfect or the present subjunctive.
Practice
4:05Y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.
And even if it did enter the nucleus, it would have no way to change your DNA.
Aunque la vacuna entre en el núcleo, no tendrá manera de cambiar su ADN.
Even if the vaccine enters the nucleus, it will not have a way to change your DNA.
Aun si la vacuna entra en el núcleo no tiene manera de cambiar su ADN.
Even if the vaccine enters the nucleus, it does not have a way to change your DNA.
Review
5:29Hypothetical
AUN SI / SI + IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE > CONDITIONAL
Y aun si entrara en el núcleo, no tendría manera de cambiar su ADN.
Possible
AUN SI / SI + PRESENT INDICATIVE > PRESENT / FUTURE INDICATIVE
Aun si la vacuna entra en el núcleo no tiene / tendrá manera de cambiar su ADN.
AUNQUE + PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE > PRESENT / FUTURE INDICATIVE
Aunque la vacuna entre en el núcleo, no tiene / tendrá manera de cambiar su ADN.
- Note: There are other possible combinations (e.g. Si + present indicative > conditional), but these represent the most common ones.
Related Lessons
- How the Covid Vaccines Work in Spanish (Free) and How the Covid Vaccines Work in Spanish – Premium
- Quiz #5 – The Subjunctive in Conditional Statements and More (free)
- Discussion of AUN SI and AUNQUE in Word Reference
- Quiz # 4 – The Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses (Free lesson with Aunque)
- Subj14 How and Where (Member lesson)
- Subj15 Conditional Statements (Member lesson)
- Subj16 Conditional Statements (Member lesson)
Special thanks to Elizabeth Cortéz, my Spanish teacher at the San Pedro Spanish School in Guatemala who provided most of the Spanish for this lesson.
The lessons offered at docmolly.com are a fun way to practice medical Spanish. They are not intended to teach medicine or provide medical advice. These lessons are intended to improve communication with Spanish-speaking patients, but they are not intended to substitute for a qualified medical interpreter.
