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I understand when I may use "cuando + subjunctive" and what it implies. For instance:

cuando tenga mi perro en mis brazos, estaré feliz

cuando esté en la Luna, llamaré a mis amigos

I wonder, may I use the same pattern but with "si"?

si tenga mi perro en mis brazos, estaré feliz

si esté en la Luna, llamaré a mis amigos

Or will it better to use indicative with "si" in such cases?

2 Answers 2

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When used like this, cuando always requires the subjunctive, however si depends on the clause.

If you are making a general statement and not referring to a specific point in time, use si with the indicative in both parts of the clause. It's just the same as English.

Si tengo mi perro en mis brazos, estoy feliz.

If I have my dog in my arms, I am happy.

Si tenía mi perro en mis brazos, estaba feliz.

If I had my dog in my arms, I was happy.

If you are talking about specific point in time, use si with the subjunctive verb and the corresponding conditional. This is where Spanish differs from English (especially British English), because the subjunctive is used to talk about a hypothetical situation.

Si tuviera mi perro en mis brazos, estaría feliz.

If I had my dog in my arms, I would be happy.

Si hubiera tenido mi perro en mis brazos, habría estado feliz.

If I had had my dog in my arms, I would have been happy.

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  • si tenga mi perro en mis brazos, [estaré feliz] -- is this correct? If yes, in which situations? How would it be translated?
    – user20877
    Jan 7, 2019 at 21:47
  • si tenga mi perro en mis brazos, [estaré feliz] -- is this correct? If yes, in which situations? How would it be translated?
    – user20877
    Jan 8, 2019 at 17:34
  • I don't think so. This website, grammar.spanishintexas.org/verbs/si-clauses, says you can use 'si' with present indicative in future. It should be si tengo mi perro en mis brazos, estaré feliz Jan 9, 2019 at 18:54
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Just one more thing I didn't see anyone mention in the answers. You may not use present subjunctive after "si" in this case. You would need imperfect/past subjunctive, and the other sentence would be in the conditional tense:

Si tuviera...estaria Si estuviera...llamaria

Or you can use pluperpect subjunctive, and verb agreement/conditional for the other sentence:

Si hubiera tenido...hubiera estado/estaria Si hubiera estado...hubiera llamado/llamaria

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