Quan arribi la meva mare, la vull abraçar.

to want

Breakdown of Quan arribi la meva mare, la vull abraçar.

• la mare: the mother
• meu: my
• quan: when

Questions & Answers about Quan arribi la meva mare, la vull abraçar.

Why is it arribi and not arriba or arribarà?

Because after quan when you are talking about a future event that has not happened yet, Catalan normally uses the present subjunctive:

Quan arribi la meva mare... = When my mother arrives...

This is different from English, which also avoids will in this kind of clause, but uses the present simple instead. In Catalan:

• Quan arribi... = future, not yet happened
• Quan arriba... = habitual or general meaning, like whenever she arrives
• Quan arribarà... is generally not the normal choice here

So arribi is the expected form in this sentence.

What form is arribi, exactly?

Arribi is the present subjunctive form of arribar.

For this verb, the relevant forms are:

• jo arribi
• ell/ella/vostè arribi

So the form itself could be I arrive or she arrives in the subjunctive, but here the subject is la meva mare, so it clearly means she arrives.

Does quan always trigger the subjunctive in Catalan?