a que pasara

Question

I ran across this phrase this morning. I know roughly how it translates, but I do not quite understand the grammar behind it: "cuando esperábamos a que pasara la tormenta"

I know it means something like "where we waited for the storm to pass" I know also that the phrase in Spanish uses a past tense- "esperábamos" and the future "pasara". What is confusing me most is the use of "a que". Pues, como siempre, gracias por ayudarme.

Answer 1

Hi jenny, the tenses used are the

past imperfecto: esperábamos

subjunctive: pasara

The structure a que...triggers the subjunctive in this context

a que = para que

while/when we were waiting for the storm to pass

Muchas gracias. I was just obsessing over having typed "cuando" when I meant to type "donde" too! I see how I got confused now. If pasar had been in the future tense it would have been "pasará" with the tilde. You rock Heidita! :-) - Jennivee, Apr 16, 2010