Siempre que and different English translations?
Hola a todos!
I have a question about "siempre que". What are the best translations into English? I have seen "provided that", and "as long as" for an English translation, which pretty much mean the same thing in English.
However, I also see "whenever" as a translation for "siempre que". To me "whenever" has 2 meanings in English. As an example:
He will wash the car whenever his friend comes over.
Here he is expecting his friend to come over in the near future, and will wash the care when the friend arrives. You could just as easily say "when", but "when" is more like he will wash the car at the moment his friend arrives, or shortly after. And "whenever" has a feeling of he doesn't know when his friend will show up, and it doesn't matter, but he is definitely be coming over at some point. In Spanish, I think "cuandoquiera" would be a good translation for this??
The other sense of "whenever":
He washes the car whenever his friend comes over.
Here, "whenever" means, "every time" his friend comes over, he washes the car.
So when "siempre que" is used in Spanish, I am curious which of these translations of "whenever" is more accurate.
Here are some phrases and my guess of the translations in English.
Él lavará su carro cuando su amigo venga. (Here llegar may be a better verb) He will wash his car when his friend comes over.
Él lavará su carro siempre que su amigo venga. He will wash his car whenever (or as long as?) his friend comes over.
Él lava su carro siempre que su amigo venga. He washes his car whenever his friend comes over.
Maybe the meaning of "siempre que" changes if lavar is in the present or future?
Also, in the last example couldn't you also say: Él lava su carro cada vez que su amigo venga. He washes his car every time his friend comes over.
And if this is the case, could "siempre que" be translated as "every time", as in the sense of "whenever" means "every time"?
Thanks!!
7 Answers
Agreed with ray76, "whenever" doesn't really work that way. But you're right, if you're trying to say that the time he washes his car is triggered by the arrival of his friend, you'd use "when" or something like:
He will wash the car...
1) at the (very) moment (en el momento) 2) once (una vez que)
...his friend arrives.
He will wash the car when his friend arrives/Lavará el coche una vez que venga su amigo.
I think you're picking up on the fact that you could use "whenever" in a supporting subjunctive clause to put extra emphasis that the arrival of the friend is the important part and carries no sense of particular time, as in:
He'll wash the car when his friend arrives, whenever that may be. Similar to, but not quite, "cuando sea" but both are using a subjunctive.
The only way to put "whenever" in the main clause, express the idea that the arrival is not necessarily imminent, and drop the other "when" would be to START with "whenever", but it still wouldn't be the ideal way:
Whenever it is that his friend arrives, he'll wash the car.
Or,
You: When will he wash the car? Me: No idea. Whenever his friend arrives.
You're right about the present vs. past. If you put the verb "wash" in the present, you're making a more general statement about behavior, and "siempre que" starts to be useful.
He washes his car whenever his friend arrives.
You're moving from "una vez que" to "cada vez que", and now you can begin to use "siempre que" in the way you're trying to.
If you still want to make a statement about general behavior but it will be true in the future (lavará), you'd say:
From now on, he'll wash his car whenever his friend comes over. (A partir de ahora,) lavará su coche siempre que/cada vez que venga su amiga.
The subjunctive is employed (in this case) to express a condition or an exception. For example:
"Voy a comprarlo siempre que el precio sea razonable"
Here "siempre que " always means "provided that" "as long as"
"siempre que" may also mean "whenever" and is used with the indicative. For example:
"Hablo con ella siempre que / cada vez que la veo"
"I speak with her whenever I see her"
You can avoid this choice by using "cada vez que"
Hope this helps
Rafael:
And "whenever" has a feeling of he doesn't know when his friend will show up,
Be careful with those explanations....
He will wash/washes the car whenever his friend comes (will come over)
you talk in the present or the future when talking about the future... you just need some context.
María: I'll be there tomorrow John.
John: OK, María. Hangs up and says to Charles "María is coming tomorrow, help me"
Charles, who is talking to his girlfriend, explains smiling "He washes the car whenever Maria comes, she always complains about the car being so dirty"
Me: How hate typing so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Is that any better?
Siempre que does indeed work as "whenever", when followed by an indicative tense. There are other options as well, such as siempre y cuando.
Yes, good point. There are many, many alterations to say "whatever" depending on the tone you'd like to express.
Haz lo que te plazca-rude Haz lo que quieras-somewhat rude Haz lo que te dé la gana-super rude.
Oops, you're talking about whenever, but many of those types of words work the same or similarly.
(Why did this post have no linebreaks? :()
I have a question about "siempre que". What are the best translations into English? I have seen "provided that", and "as long as" for an English translation, which pretty much mean the same thing in English.
Let me try to clear this up for you. When siempre que is followed by the subjunctive tense, it most likely does carry the meaning of provided that or as long as. Iré a la fiesta, siempre que vengas conmigo.(as long as/provided that).
However, I also see "whenever" as a translation for "siempre que". To me "whenever" has 2 meanings in English. As an example:
He will wash the car whenever his friend comes over.
Here he is expecting his friend to come over in the near future, and will wash the care when the friend arrives. You could just as easily say "when", but "when" is more like he will wash the car at the moment his friend arrives, or shortly after. And "whenever" has a feeling of he doesn't know when his friend will show up, and it doesn't matter, but he is definitely be coming over at some point. In Spanish, I think "cuandoquiera" would be a good translation for this??
You can forget about this meaning above, it isn't relevant to siempre que. Cuandoquiera,dondequiera etc. while yes, they are official words,are not often seen outside of literature or... I don't know, the bible. To say whenever in this sense, often use "cuando sea". What I meant by meany of these words (the -ever) words,is that,for example,"whatever" can be translated as "lo que sea", whomever="quién > sea" and so on.
The other sense of "whenever":
He washes the car whenever his friend comes over.
Here, "whenever" means, "every time" his friend comes over, he washes the car.
So when "siempre que" is used in Spanish, I am curious which of these translations of "whenever" is more accurate.
Here are some phrases and my guess of the translations in English.
Él lavará su carro cuando su amigo venga. (Here llegar may be a better verb) He will wash his car when his friend comes over.
(I'd say: Lavará su coche cuando llegue su amiga) If you're familiar with "as soon as", that's what this means here. You can also use "en cuanto" here with the same meaning,or simply "cuando".
Él lavará su carro siempre que su amigo venga. He will wash his car whenever (or as long as?) his friend comes over.
The English in bold are both correct without a meaning change. The sentence structure sounds forced to me, I'd say: Lavará su coche siempre que venga/llegue(if you mean to his house) su amiga.
Él lava su carro siempre que su amigo venga. He washes his car whenever his friend comes over. See above Maybe the meaning of "siempre que" changes if lavar is in the present or future?
Also, in the last example couldn't you also say: Él lava su carro cada vez que su amigo venga. He washes his car every time his friend comes over.
Correct, but I think "cada vez que venga su amigo"
. I don't know why the structure is backwards but yours sounds forced to me.
And if this is the case, could "siempre que" be translated as "every time", as in the sense of "whenever" means "every time"?
Lke I said (I believe in this thread or another), siempre que changes depending on which tense is used in the verb that follows it. If the next verb is subjunctive, siempre que becomes "as long as/provided that". If the next verb is indicative, it means "whenever" as you've described above.
Thanks!!
I hope this helps you instead of confuses you.
Posted Feb 13, 2013 | 302 views | link | flag watch this question "He will wash the car whenever his friend comes over " does not make sense . - ray76 Feb 13, 2013 flag You're right Ray. - annierats Feb 13, 2013 flag Makes sense to me. Maybe it´s incorrect grammatically, but colloquially it would make sense to most grammatically uneducated people, which is the majority of the population, at least in the US
Totalmente de acuerdo con Padrin, De hecho, justo estaba escribiendo que el subjuntivo es lo que cambia el significado de "siempre que", la mayoría de las veces.
