B1 · Unit 3 · 42 words, 3 texts with translation
Make plans in case it rains
Talk about the weather and nature, make predictions, and make plans and promises like "if it rains, we'll stay home".
Texts in this unit
Grammar in this unit
Future tense: six more special stems — diré, vendré, pondré, sabré, querré, habrá
You already know the future tense: the infinitive plus the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. And hacer, tener, poder, salir have a special stem: haré, tendré, podré, saldré (unit 2).
Six more very common verbs have a special stem. You need them to make promises ("I'll tell you", "I'll come") and to understand a weather forecast ("there will be a storm"). The endings are the same; only the stem changes, in three ways you already know.
| What happens | Verb | Stem | yo | él / ella / usted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the vowel drops out (like podré) | saber | sabr- | sabré | sabrá |
| querer | querr- | querré | querrá | |
| haber (hay) | habr- | — | habrá | |
| d takes the place of the vowel (like tendré) | venir | vendr- | vendré | vendrá |
| poner | pondr- | pondré | pondrá | |
| a shorter stem (like haré) | decir | dir- | diré | dirá |
The other forms follow the same pattern: diré, dirás, dirá, diremos, diréis, dirán.
- Te diré la verdad. — I'll tell you the truth.
- ¿Vendrás a la fiesta? — Will you come to the party?
- Me pondré la chaqueta: hace frío. — I'll put on my jacket: it's cold.
- Mañana sabremos más. — We'll know more tomorrow. (Sabré means both "I'll know" and "I'll find out".)
- Los niños no querrán volver a casa. — The children won't want to go back home.
Habrá: the future of hay. Hay — there is / there are, había — there was / there were, habrá — there will be. Like English "there will be", it has only one form, even with a plural noun: habrá tormenta (there will be a storm), habrá muchas personas (there will be a lot of people), never ✗ habrán.
Don't mix them up. Vendré — I'll come (from venir). Venderé — I'll sell (from vender, a regular verb). The only difference is one letter e: Vendré el sábado — I'll come on Saturday, Venderé el coche — I'll sell the car.
A common mistake is to build the future from the whole infinitive, as with regular verbs. It's diré, not ✗ deciré; vendré, not ✗ veniré; pondré, not ✗ poneré.
Si + present: "if it rains" — no future after si
You already know si — if (A1, unit 11): Si llueve, no salgo — If it rains, I don't go out. That was about a habit. Now it's about one event in the future: "if it rains, we'll stay home". This is how you make plans, promises and warnings.
The pattern: si + present tense, and in the other half the future tense (what will happen then) or a command (what to do then).
| Condition: si + present | What will happen or what to do |
|---|---|
| Si llueve, | nos quedaremos en casa. |
| Si tienes frío, | cierra la ventana. |
- Si llueve, nos quedaremos en casa. — If it rains, we'll stay home.
- Si llego tarde, te llamaré. — If I'm late, I'll call you.
- Si tienes frío, cierra la ventana. — If you're cold, close the window.
- Si tiene fiebre, tome esta pastilla. — If you have a fever, take this pill. (formal)
- Iremos a la playa si hace sol. — We'll go to the beach if it's sunny.
You can swap the two halves, as in the last example. Use a comma only when si comes first.
Just like English: no future after si. English says "if it rains", not "if it will rain", and Spanish works the same way. After si use the present tense, even when you're talking about tomorrow: si llueve, si tengo tiempo (if I have time), never ✗ si lloverá, ✗ si tendré tiempo. The future goes only in the other half of the sentence.
The short question ¿Y si llueve? — What if it rains? — works the same way: si + present.
Words in this unit
el pronóstico — forecast
Según el pronóstico, mañana lloverá en todo el norte. — According to the forecast, tomorrow it'll rain across the whole north.
el clima — climate
El clima de Valencia es suave. — The climate in Valencia is mild.
ola de calor — heat wave
Esta semana hay una ola de calor. — There's a heat wave this week.
seguramente — probably
Seguramente mañana hará calor. — It'll probably be hot tomorrow.
probable — likely, probable
Mañana es probable un cambio de tiempo. — A change in the weather is likely tomorrow.
depender — to depend (on)
El viaje depende del tiempo. — The trip depends on the weather.
cancelar — to cancel
Si llueve, cancelamos la excursión. — If it rains, we cancel the trip.
aplazar — to postpone, to put off
Aplazamos la reunión hasta el lunes. — We're postponing the meeting until Monday.
mojarse — to get wet
Si no llevas paraguas, te mojas. — If you don't take an umbrella, you get wet.
el impermeable — raincoat
Llevo el impermeable por si llueve. — I'm taking my raincoat in case it rains.
despejado — clear, cloudless
Hoy el cielo está despejado. — The sky is clear today.
húmedo — humid, damp
En Galicia el clima es húmedo. — In Galicia the climate is humid.
seco — dry
El verano es muy seco aquí. — The summer is very dry here.
el hielo — ice
En invierno hay hielo en la carretera. — In winter there's ice on the road.
el norte — north
Vivo en el norte de España. — I live in the north of Spain.
el sur — south
Mis abuelos viven en el sur de España. — My grandparents live in the south of Spain.
el oeste — west
Portugal está al oeste de España. — Portugal is to the west of Spain.
el interior — inland areas, inside
En el interior hace más calor que en la playa. — Inland it's hotter than at the beach.
alrededor — around
Hay árboles alrededor de la casa. — There are trees around the house.
el aire — air
En la montaña el aire es limpio. — In the mountains the air is clean.
al aire libre — outdoors, in the open air
Me encanta comer al aire libre. — I love eating outdoors.
la naturaleza — nature
Me gusta pasear por la naturaleza. — I like walking in nature.
el bosque — forest, woods
Hay un bosque cerca de mi pueblo. — There's a forest near my village.
la tierra — soil, land, earth
La tierra está seca. — The soil is dry.
la piedra — stone, rock
El río tiene muchas piedras. — The river has a lot of stones.
natural — natural
Es un parque natural muy grande. — It's a very big nature park.
andar — to walk
Me gusta andar por el bosque. — I like walking in the forest.
el riesgo — risk
Hay riesgo de lluvia esta tarde. — There's a risk of rain this afternoon.
el peligro — danger
Hay peligro de hielo en la carretera. — There's a danger of ice on the road.
temer — to fear, to be afraid of
Mi abuela teme el frío. — My grandmother is afraid of the cold.
el horóscopo — horoscope
Leo mi horóscopo cada mañana. — I read my horoscope every morning.
el signo — sign, star sign
¿De qué signo eres? — What's your star sign?
adivinar — to guess, to predict
¿Puedes adivinar mi edad? — Can you guess my age?
cumplirse — to come true
Mi sueño se cumple este año. — My dream is coming true this year.
¿quién será? — who could that be?, I wonder who it is
Suena el timbre. ¿Quién será? — The doorbell's ringing. Who could that be?
la radio — radio
Escucho la radio en el coche. — I listen to the radio in the car.
la luna — moon
Esta noche hay luna llena. — There's a full moon tonight.
la estrella — star
En el campo se ven muchas estrellas. — In the countryside you can see lots of stars.
el planeta — planet
La Tierra es un planeta. — The Earth is a planet.
el chaparrón — downpour, cloudburst
Cae un chaparrón y entramos en el bar. — A downpour starts and we go into the bar.
el granizo — hail
Esta tarde ha caído granizo en mi pueblo. — This afternoon there was hail in my village.
el arcoíris — rainbow
Después de la lluvia sale el arcoíris. — After the rain, the rainbow comes out.
Learn these words with flashcards
In the app, the unit’s words come to your flashcards a few at a time and repeat until they stick, and the texts show them in use. 15 minutes a day.
Start for freeEverything is open for free. No card needed to sign up.