Which of these sentences is correct?
Cuando esté mayor, yo sea como tú.
or
Cuando esté mayor, yo seré como tú.
8 Answers
You're quite right, James. My suggestion was less a translation suggestion for the op and more a tangent to show the different direction in which the second subjunctive would take the sentence. I could have been clearer, granted.
Oh, that I might be like you when I get older.
I think that's grammatically correct, but it means something slightly different: When I'm older, I hope to be like you.
Actually, "I hope to be like you" would be "Espero ser como tú," and your version is more like "God grant that I am like you," although the basic meaning is the same.
How about this one for fun:
Cuando sea mayor, que yo sea como tú.
Sorry, ana, this is not correct,
Go with the answer given by Dunia!!
You don't have to double the "r" of "seré"
"Cuando sea mayor, seré como tú"
Cuando+Subjunctive (future).
It sounds like you're trying to say: when I'm older, I'll be like you, therefore you want to go with the second one: "Cuando serre mayor, serre como tu". "este" refers to being somewhere e.g. "este en la casa" versus "serre" refers to state of being/being somehow e.g. "serre despierto", "soy menor o mayor de edad". Ser versus estar is tricky & unique to spanish. The only similar auxiliary can be found in french, but it's still different even there.
neither...
are you trying to say when I was older, I was like you?
if so it is, cuando era mayor, fui como tu