Español en serio

Why “Cuando” Is Followed by the Subjunctive in Spanish

👋 Which hand do we raise?

Dieser Beitrag erklärt ein wichtiges Thema der spanischen Grammatik (Text auf Englisch).

If I see a friend in the street and I want to get his attention, I can raise one hand. It’s one or the other, no need to raise both. The same thing happens with languages. If you want to mark the distinction between something that really happens or something that could happen, in Spanish, we can raise one hand, which we call the Subjunctive. But English lost most of its inflectional Subjunctive centuries ago (yes, Old English had one, but during the transition to Middle English it gradually weakened; the 15th century is generally considered the turning point in this respect). So, imagine the situation again. I am in the street trying to wave at my friend, but I am carrying a bag with one hand, so I need to raise the other one. This is exactly what English does. Take a look:

1.  Cuando puedo, voy al gimnasio. When I can, I go to the gym.
(Meaning: when I have time, I go. Since I really do it, I use the Indicative).

2.  Cuando pueda, iré al gimnasio. When I can, I will go to the gym.
(Meaning: I don’t know when I will be able to do it, I don’t even know if I will be able to. I cannot be sure, so I use the Subjunctive).

So, we use the Indicative in sentence 1 and the Subjunctive in sentence 2. Now, take the last one. Which hand do I raise to show that this is only a possibility, and not a real fact? The Subjunctive hand. But English doesn’t have a productive Subjunctive system anymore. No worries, we can raise the other hand: by using a future form, for instance. We convey the same meaning of non-factuality with a different resource, or hand.

When to use cuando + indicative, or cuando + subjunctive

1.  Cuando llego, siempre te aviso. When I arrive, I always let you know.
Present Tense: cuando + indicative: it is something that really happens

2.  Cuando llegué, te avisé. When I arrived, I let you know.
Past Tense: cuando + indicative: it is something that really happened

3.  Cuando llegue, te aviso/te avisaré. When I arrive, I will let you know.
Future Tense: cuando + subjunctive: it refers to a future event that has not happened yet

In this last case, we raise the Subjunctive hand in Spanish and we can use a Present or a Future (te aviso/te avisaré), whereas in English, it is mandatory to use a Future Tense (I will let you know), raising the hand by doing so.

Last but not least, this doesn’t happen only with cuando. You will find the same structure in these cases:

🔹 mientras
Mientras como, leo un libro. While I eat, I read a book. Present Tense + Indicative
Mientras comía, leí un libro. While I was eating, I read a book. Past Tense + Indicative
Mientras coma, leeré un libro. While I am eating, I will read a book. Future Tense + Subjunctive

🔹 en cuanto, no bien, ni bien (all of them meaning “as soon as”)
En cuanto termino, voy al gimnasio. As soon as I finish, I go to the gym. Present Tense + Indicative
En cuanto terminé, fui al gimnasio. As soon as I finished, I went to the gym. Past Tense + Indicative
En cuanto termine, voy/iré al gimnasio. As soon as I finish, I will go to the gym. Future Tense + Subjunctive

🔹 siempre que
Siempre que puedo, te llamo. When I can, I call you. Present Tense + Indicative
Siempre que pude, te llamé. When I could, I called you. Past Tense + Indicative
Siempre que pueda, te llamo/te llamaré. Whenever I can, I will call you. Future Tense + Subjunctive

Example from the episode

Read the full episode here →

Episode 10