Complete Spanish

Track 82

1. Present or past mood tense after the same opener Grammar

The opening clause does not have to be in the past for the mood tense to be. No es muy relevante is present, but if what follows refers back to the past, you use the past mood tense.

no es muy relevante que lo encuentren
that they find it
no es muy relevante que lo encontraran
that they found it

Era muy relevante que lo encontraran · Es increíble que vuelvan a hacerlo · Es increíble que volvieran a hacerlo

2. lo importante es que avoids the mood tense Method

The trick of the track. Turn it is important that into the important thing is that, and the mood tense vanishes, because you end up with es que rather than an adjective plus que.

es increíble que vuelvan
mood tense required
lo increíble es que vuelven
no mood tense

Use the lo plus adjective structure you already know: lo importante, lo increíble, lo espectacular.

Lo increíble es que vuelven a hacerlo

This is for the moment in a conversation when you just want the meaning across and do not want to stop and hunt for the form. Play with the structure, get the point made, and work out the mood tense version later.

3. era, the line past of ser Grammar

Irregular, but easy to hold: a line in the past is an era, and pronouncing that English word in Spanish gives you the form.

Era muy relevante · Era muy relevante que lo encontraran

4. increíble means unbelievable Vocabulary

Spanish shows the construction more plainly than English does. Creer is to believe, so creíble is believable and increíble is unbelievable. That is what incredible actually means.

creer
to believe
creíble
believable
increíble
incredible, unbelievable
relevante
relevant

Note there is no d in the Spanish.

5. volver a inside these structures Grammar

Combining the two ideas of the track gives you a neat set of contrasts.

Lo increíble es que vuelven a hacerlo · Es increíble que vuelvan a hacerlo · Es increíble que volvieran a hacerlo

Same meaning, three positions on the mood-tense scale: none, present, past.

6. Identify the structures, then choose Method

The reason for learning which structures trigger the mood tense is not only to use it correctly. It is also so you can steer around it when you want to.

Es importante que → lo importante es que