This is an ad by BetterHelp. Did I talk too much? I should have handled that better. Why can't I just let it go? Why did I do that? I wish I would stop overthinking so much. Why did I do that? Take a breath. You're not alone. Let's talk about what's going on. Counselling helps you sort through the noise with qualified professionals. And online therapy makes it convenient. See if it's for you. Visit betterhelp.com forward slash random podcast for 10% off your first month of online therapy. When life gets hectic, energy ups and downs are all you need. If you're seeking energy reassurance, Eonnext can help. From regularly updating our tariffs to get you our best value to smart tech that helps you take control of your energy future, we're here for whatever's next. Just one of the reasons why we're rated excellent on trust pilot by our customers. Find out more about how we can help at eonnext.com. Eligibility and teasing sees apply. Trust pilot February 2026. Hola hola. Como te va? Espero que genial. This is Coffee Break Spanish. Yo soy Pablo and today it's my turn to join you for a little coffee break. Get ready because we're about to talk about a very useful word in Spanish. The word cuando, when and when to use it with the subjunctive. Alla vamos. Basically the other day I was speaking to my colleague Annabel and she was telling me that she had actually spotted a toad coming towards her in her own garden. Not exactly the kind of visitor you expect with your morning coffee to be fair, but this automatically reminded me of a lovely Spanish saying my grand says. Literally when you see the toad walk spring water. But what it means in other words is that when the toads come out, spring is officially here. But again what really caught my attention was the grammar. Of course as a linguist I can't help these things, sorry. So pay attention to the structure cuando veas al sapo. When you see the toad that little veas is a great example of the subjunctive in action. Veas is the second person singular of ver in the presence subjunctive. U singular si. So you may be wondering why do we use the subjunctive after cuando in cuando veas? Very good question indeed. You'll be glad to know that this is one of the more logical unpredictable uses of the subjunctive. We use the subjunctive right after cuando when we are talking about an action that it's in the future. Before we see some examples of cuando followed by the subjunctive, you may want to revisit the subjunctive. For that you can scroll down on this feed to Coffee Break Spanish season 2 episodes 38 and 39 where we introduce the subjunctive and some of its uses. There are also many videos covering the subjunctive on Coffee Break TV, our app and web platform. But let's see some examples of cuando with subjunctive now. Cuando llegues a casa, mándame un mensaje. So cuando llegues that's in the subjunctive when you arrive home or when you get home, send me a message or a text message. Otro ejemplo, cuando empiece la pelicula comeremos palomitas. So cuando empiece, that's the subjunctive, la pelicula, so when the film starts, comeremos palomitas. We will eat popcorn. So in both cuando llegue a casa when I get home and cuando empiece la pelicula when the film starts, the action hasn't happened yet. We are talking about a future action. That's precisely when the present subjunctive with cuando steps in. But you may wonder, can we use cuando with the indicative? Buena pregunta and the answer is sí. Cuando can also be followed by the indicative. For example, if the action that comes after cuando, it's something that happens regularly or something that has already happened. In those cases, we use the indicative. Por ejemplo, cuando llegue la fiesta se había terminado. So cuando llegue, when I arrived, that's the indicative, the present tense. La fiesta se había terminado, the party had finished. Otro ejemplo, cuando llego a casa, siempre estoy muy cansado. So cuando llego, that's the present indicative, when I get home or when I arrive home, siempre estoy muy cansado. I'm always very tired. But this is something that happens regularly, so that's why we're using the indicative. Let's do a little practice now. Can you translate the following sentences? When I go to the supermarket, I will buy X. But notice how in the Spanish sentence, at the beginning, we're using Vaya from the verb ir in the present subjunctive because this action hasn't happened yet. When I go to the supermarket, I will buy X. I still haven't gone, but when I go, I'll do that. That's why we need the subjunctive after cuando. Let's do another one. Cuando voy al supermercado, compro huevos. When I go to the supermarket, I buy X. And here we're using voy, the present indicative, because it's a regular action that we do often, so we use the present indicative. When I go, I do that. So thanks to today's proverb, cuando veas al sapo andar agua primaveral, literally when you see the toad walking, spring water, we know that we use the subjunctive after cuando, when the action is in the future and hasn't happened yet. But remember that cuando is followed by the indicative, it the action that comes after has already happened or is a regular action. Perfecto, so that's all from me today. We've covered a little proverb, a sprinkle of grammar and a little practice. Soy Pablo and I hope that you've enjoyed this. Hasta pronto y, como siempre, happy coffee breaking! You have been listening to a Coffee Break Languages production for the Radio Linguine Network, copyright 2025, Radio Linguine Limited, recording copyright 2025, Radio Linguine Limited, all rights reserved. Discover an impeccably curated collection of hotels, the luxury collection, 130 unique hotels and resorts across 40 countries. Most CRMs are clunky and slow down your team. It's time to switch to a new one. That's where Pipedrive comes in, a simple CRM for growing sales teams. See all your deals and customer info in one pipeline. It's powerful enough to grow with your business, yet simple enough for your team to love using it. Switch to Pipedrive and join over 100,000 companies. Visit pipedrive.com forward slash audio to get started with a 30-day free trial.
