Spanish Phrase
Avísanos con antelación si tienes que cancelar.
Meaning
The sentence politely asks someone to inform the speaker ahead of time if they need to cancel a reservation, appointment, or any planned activity. It combines a direct request (avísanos) with a condition (si tienes que cancelar) and a time reference (con antelación).
When to use
Use this phrase in customer‑service settings, event organization, travel bookings, or any situation where you need a heads‑up before a cancellation. It works well in both spoken and written communication, especially in formal or semi‑formal contexts.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Avísanosconantelaciónsitienesquecancelar
Imperative + pronoun
‘Avísanos’ is the affirmative imperative of ‘avisar’ with the enclitic pronoun ‘nos’, meaning ‘let us know’.
Prepositional phrase
‘con antelación’ means ‘in advance’; ‘con’ is the preposition and ‘antelación’ is a noun derived from ‘ante‑’ (before).
Conditional clause
‘si’ introduces a condition: ‘if’. The clause that follows is a typical ‘si + present + infinitive’ construction.
Periphrastic obligation
‘tienes que’ + infinitive expresses obligation or necessity, equivalent to ‘you have to’.
Infinitive as complement
‘cancelar’ is the infinitive verb that completes the ‘tienes que’ construction.
🗨In Conversation
Avísanos con antelación si tienes que cancelar.
Let us know in advance if you have to cancel.
Claro, te avisaré al menos 24 horas antes.
Sure, I’ll let you know at least 24 hours ahead.
✕Common Mistakes
Avísame con antelación si tienes que cancelar.
‘Avísame’ addresses a single person (me) instead of the group (us). The original sentence is meant for a collective audience.
Avísanos con anticipación si tienes que cancelar.
While understandable, ‘con anticipación’ is less common than ‘con antelación’ in most regions.
Avísanos con antelación si debes cancelar.
Using ‘debes cancelar’ changes the nuance to a stronger obligation; the original only asks for a heads‑up, not a command.
↔Alternatives
Infórmanos con anticipación si necesitas cancelar.
Inform us in advance if you need to cancel.
Por favor, avísanos con tiempo si vas a cancelar.
Please let us know ahead of time if you’re going to cancel.
Comunícanos con antelación cualquier cancelación.
Communicate any cancellation to us in advance.
Cultural Tip
In many Spanish‑speaking countries, giving notice before a cancellation is seen as a sign of respect and professionalism. ‘Con antelación’ sounds slightly more formal than ‘con tiempo’, so choose it for business or official communications. The imperative ‘avísanos’ is friendly yet courteous; avoid the more abrupt ‘avisa’ unless you’re speaking to a peer in a very informal setting.