A menos que

(sentence starters)
B1 (¡Ya le agarras la onda!)Used EVERYWHERE 🇲🇽Standard Spanish 😌

🧠 What it means

This one just means: 👉 unless And just as in English, it’s used to set up a condition: No voy a salir a menos que deje de llover.
I’m not going out unless it stops raining.


💡Just note that the next verb is normally in the SUBJUNCTIVE as it’s not something that’s guaranteed to happen!

🌪️ When to whip it out

Whenever you’d say unless in English:

No voy a la fiesta a menos que vayas tú.
I’m not going to the party unless you go.
No firmo nada a menos que me expliquen bien el contrato.
I’m not signing anything unless they explain the contract properly.

You can also use it to create suspense:

Se me hace que le puso el cuerno… A menos que…
I think he cheated on her... Unless...

⚠️ Tone

✅ Great for casual conversation.

✅ But works in serious/legal contexts too!

🔁 Similar chunks

Salvo queExcepto queCon la condición de que…

🦜 El Rincón del Cotorreo

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