Day by day, we face several situations that could depend on one another. So, you probably have found yourself talking to a friend trying to explain what’s the connection between two different events.
In Spanish, we use the word “depende” to express when an event depends on another one. Since we generally use “depende” together with the preposition “de” some Spanish students struggle to understand how to use it.
If you’re someone who likes to become better day by day, you are in the right place. Today, we will show you why “depende” is a very helpful verb and how you could use it to build great Spanish sentences and express your ideas.
How to use “depende”.
“Depende” is an intransitive verb, but it comes from the Spanish verb “depender”. Of course, “depender” is the verb in the infinitive form and we can conjugate it in any Spanish tense.
Still, when we conjugate “depender”, it only allows us to express that me, you, we, or someone depends on another thing, event, person, or situation.
On the flip side, “depende” allows us to express that a situation, event, person, or action, depends on something else. It doesn’t need to be a person.
You probably don’t have a clear idea of what’s the difference yet, but let’s see some examples below to provide you with a better picture:
Yo dependo de mi hermana para comprar un carro.
I depend on my sister to buy a car.
Tú dependes de tu papá para ir al colegio.
You depend on your dad to go to school.
Ella depende de su salario para pagar las deudas.
She depends on her salary to pay the debts.
Nosotros dependemos de las ventas para poder tener mayores ganancias.
We depend on sales to be able to have higher profits.
Los músicos, generalmente, dependen de sus fans.
Musicians generally depend on their fans.
Please note that we have conjugated “depender” in the present tense for every personal pronoun. As you may see, we can only express that someone depends on another person, situation, or event. However, when we use “depende”, things are different.
Let’s learn how to use (“depende” + “de”) in the following section.
How to use “depende de”
The structure “depende de” is always followed by a noun. So, we can’t use a verb after it. As we said, we can use this structure to express that something depends on something else.
Let’s see a few examples to explain this better:
Depende de tí decidir si vamos allí o no.
It’s up to you to decide whether we go there or not.
Es posible que vaya para Italia, pero depende de las circunstancias.
It is possible that I will go to Italy, but it depends on the circumstances.
El éxito depende de tus esfuerzos.
Success depends on your efforts.
El resultado dependerá de cómo hagamos las cosas.
The result will depend on how we do things.
La nueva medida dependió de las politicas impuestas el año pasado.
The new measure depended on the policies imposed last year.
As you may realize, we can also conjugate “depende de” in the future tense or the past tense, the plural form of “depende” is “dependen”. No matter if you use “depende de” or “dependen de”, they usually are translated to “Depend on”.
How to use “depende de si”
The big difference between “depende de” and “depende de si” is that we could use “depende de si” with verbs.
In this case, verbs could be conjugated or could go in their infinitive form. However, if we use a verb in the infinitive form, it would take the role of a noun.
Here are a few examples:
Por supuesto, eso siempre depende de si ellos quieren que les ayudemos.
Of course, that always depends on whether they want us to help them.
La estabilidad económica depende de si somos capaces de reaccionar.
Economic stability depends on whether we are able to react.
Salir temprano del trabajo depende de si llueve o no.
Leaving work early depends on whether it rains or not.
¿Vas a correr hoy? Depende de si es un día soleado o no.
Are you going to run today? Depends if it’s a sunny day or not.
¿Te gustan las manzanas? Depende de si son rojas o no, no me gustan las verdes.
Do you like apples? It depends if they are red or not, I don’t like the green ones.
¿Vas al evento en el parque? Depende de si ayudar está aún permitido.
Are you going to the event in the park? Depends on whether helping is still allowed.
Spanish important words
In summary, we use “depende de” only with nouns and “depende de si” with nouns and verbs. They both generally are translated to “depend on”. Yet, the translation may change depending on what we say.
Also, we can conjugate both structures in the future tense or the past tense if necessary.
Practice as much as you can to master how to use “depende”. After all, your results “dependen de” how much effort you put into learning Spanish.