Using subjunctive to mean "while"

Question

Hazlo ahora que puedas. Do it now, while you can.

I've seen it like this a few times that I know of,

and seen it like "could"

as in

¿ha sufrido algún accidente, lesión, o estrés físico que pueda haberle afectado al sistema nervioso o a la columna vertebral?

which is something Cogumela posted earlier,

but I never really connected to it "while" like this. I wonder what other constructions are like "while" with it.

Comelo que tengas. - does that work? Eat it while you have it? Comelo que tengas en el plato - eat it while it's on your plate?

Compralo que tengas dinero - buy it while you have money.

Lucha que tengas energía - fight while you have energy? Does this work?

Lucha que no estés cansado - Fight while you are not tired?

Any of these work?

What about "Lucha que tengas un feliz cumple" , saw that one earlier - looks like "fight to have a happy birthday". Short for "Lucha (hasta) que tengas un feliz cumple?"

I wonder if there is a rule about this or what.

Answer 1

Hi Jeezz!

Lucha que tengas un feliz cumple

Lucha que tengas energía

This two sentences are incorrect. If you are suggesting that "que" can mean "mientras", I don't think that is possible in Spanish.

The only way I can think of these sentences is as isolated statements:

¡ Lucha! ¡Y que tengas un feliz cumple!

No way que means: while, for, in order to...

On the other hand:

Lucha para que tengas un feliz cumple

is also incorrect. It should read:

Lucha para tener un feliz cumple

Concerning these:

Comelo que tengas.

Compralo que tengas dinero

They are incorrect as well. You could say:

Cómetelo mientras lo tienes / cómetelo mientras lo tengas

Cómpralo mientras tienes dinero / cómpralo mientras tengas dinero

Both moods can be correct, depending on what you mean. If this answer your question, "mientras" is not related to the subjunctive, and "que" doesn't mean mientras.

Finally, this sentence:

Hazlo ahora que puedas.

Edit: I was about to say that this one is not correct, when I saw that it's used in Mexico. It makes no sense to me using the subjunctive, I would have said:

Hazlo ahora que puedes.

I find it difficult to explain why subjunctive is used in the sentence above. The only explanation I can think of is that "ahora que puedas" is used in a figurative sense, and "ahora" doesn't mean "ahora", but "as soon as you can". Could any Mexican help here?

I agree with Cogumela. Maybe "ahora que puedas" is commonly used somewhere, but I don't think it's grammatically correct. It should be "ahora que puedes". - Gekkosan, Jan 3, 2012

However (and who knows if perhaps in my cultural environment we also mangle our grammar), on my side of the world "lucha para que tengas un feliz cumpleaños" is perfectly common. To me that's the same construction as: - Gekkosan, Jan 3, 2012

"Trabaja para que tengas con qué comer", or "madruga para que te rinda más el día". - Gekkosan, Jan 3, 2012

"lucha para que tengas un feliz cumpleaños" , and "trabaja para que tengas con qué comer" sound very clumsy and unusual to me. They share the same subject, so using the infinitive seems the logical thing (to my ears) - cogumela, Jan 3, 2012

However, "madruga para que te rinda más el día" is a different construction. We have two different subjects: Tú / el día, and therefore that's the way to say it - cogumela, Jan 3, 2012

nice answer, very helpful - dewclaw, Jan 3, 2012

Sin duda son diferencias culturales. Para mí, son oraciones normales de uso diario. - Gekkosan, Jan 3, 2012

Answer 2

Comelo que tengas. - does that work? Eat it while you have it?

This is a shortened version of "Comelo mientras lo tengas" so I don´t see while really having anything to do with subjunctive although subjunctive is used many times in a sentence with a subjunctive verb.

What about "Lucha que tengas un feliz cumple" , saw that one earlier - looks like "fight to have a happy birthday". Short for "Lucha (hasta) que tengas un feliz cumple?"

You´re right, although to more precise it´s ".... para que tengas ...."

So what you are basically saying, is that "mientras" is one of those words that can get eaten, Hazlo que puedas = Hazlo mientras que puedas. Ya veo. - jeezzle, Jan 3, 2012

And in different senarios, ie "hazlo mientras que puedas," "Hazlo ya que puedas" can both be shortened. But I don´t know if doing this grammatically correct or not, but it is common - 005faa61, Jan 3, 2012

Answer 3

Then where does mientras come in?

"while he/she eats" - Gekkosan, Jan 3, 2012

Answer 4

I will assume it's an incorrect construction then and not use it.