e si habra buena cosecha este ano: I do not know whether there will
be a good crop this year.

No pudo, _or_ supo, decirme si me entregaria los pagares para la fecha
convenida: He could not tell me whether he would be able to hand me the
promissory notes for the date agreed upon.

_Si_ used as the conditional "if," is followed by the verb in the
present indicative or imperfect subjunctive, as--

Si viene hoy le pagare: If he comes to-day, I shall pay him.

Si viene manana le pagare[208]: If he comes to-morrow I shall pay him.

Le dije que si viniese le pagaria: I told him that if he came I should
pay him.

[Footnote 208: When the action refers to the future the "future
subjunctive" may be used instead, but this is rarely done. _It
emphasises the uncertainty._]

The sense will determine the tense to be used.

Notice the following idiomatic uses of _si_ (not conditional)--

Si soy (fui) malo! Well, I am (was) wicked!
iSi sera (seria) tan necia! Can (could) she be so foolish!
?Si vendria? I wonder will he come!
iSi se lo habia dicho yo mil veces! But I had told him so many times!

Other idiomatic uses of this _si_ will be learnt by practice (all more
or less pleonastic as in the above examples).

We have said that "but" is translated by _sino_ after a negative unless
a finite verb follows. Therefore, "Not to buy but to sell" is translated
"No comprar sino vender."

After a negative a finite verb may be preceded by _sino que_ instead of
_pero_ in cases like the following examples--

No compro sino que vendio: He did not buy but (on the contrary) he sold.
No solo que es barato sino que es de muy buena calidad:
Not only is it cheap, but it is (also) of a very good quality.

_Ni ... ni_--"neither ... nor" (same as all negative words) when
following a verb requires _No_ to precede the verb, as--

No acepta ni esto ni aquello: He accepts neither this nor that.

But--Ni esto ni aquello quiere aceptar.

_Pues_--"seeing that" or "since" is used often for "then," "but," "well"
(used as an interjection).

Pues que lo haga: Let him do it then.

Quiso desobedecerme, pues vera su falta: He _would_ disobey me, but he
will see his fault.

Pues (_or_ pues bien) ique hay ahora! Well! what is the matter now?

We shall conclude the lesson with the different meanings of _Ya_
(sometimes used also redundantly). They are given for the sake of
completeness although _Ya_ in its different uses belongs to different
par