Cuando ________ de mi viaje, te llamaré.
Tomé un prueba en espanol, y tuve este pregunta:
Cuando ________ de mi viaje, te llamaré.
Respuestas posibles: - vuelva - vuelvo - volveré
Yo elegi volvere, pero la prueba dice que la respuesta correcta era vuelva.
Por que?
3 Answers
Even in English you would not use future:
When I will return from my trip, I will call you. You would never say it that way. You don't in Spanish either.
In English we use simple present:
When I return from my trip I will call you.
In Spanish cuando uses indicative only when referring to something that has happened or something that happens on a regular basis.
When it is something that hasn't yet happened you use subjunctive.
Here it is clear that is the case:
When I return from my trip (I haven't yet), I will call you.
so vuelva for present subjunctive for yo.
Here is an article on that:
https://www.thoughtco.com/using-the-subjunctive-mood-after-cuando-3079837
As a subordinating conjunction, cuando — usually translated as "when" or "whenever" — typically is followed by a verb in the indicative mood when that verb refers to something that has already occurred or is occurring in the present.
In contrast, the present-tense subjunctive mood typically follows cuando when verb referring to an action or state of being that has yet to occur
In time clauses in English we use the present tense with a future meaning. Example:
When I come (present tense, future idea) from my trip next November, I'll get in touch with you.
This happens with "before", " after", " as soon as" etc when we use present tense but it's something that will happen in the future.
In Spanish we use subjunctive. Neither present not future but subjunctive.
Cuando regrese ( not regreso or regresaré) de mi viaje en noviembre , te visitaré.
Antes
que vaya (not voy or iré) a Paris el próximo año, te llamaré.
Después que terminemos (not terminamos or terminaremos) nuestro curso en diciembre de 2017, me tomaré unas vacaciones.
La respuesta de la prueba es la correcta, usando subjuntivo aunque se refiera al futuro.
Hi David!
I think that you chose to put (volveré) because it's the future tense. But it just doesn't fit quite well because of the word (cuando). I was taught that to express the future tense, there are various ways, and one of them says that if (Cuando) proceeds a verb in the present tense, it will convert it into a future tense.
Even in English, the same rules applies:
When I return from my trip, I will call you.
Notice that this sentence: when I will return from my trip, I will call you. just sound wrong.
Edit: I thought it was "vuelvo" but I saw the response of my friend Bosque!
