Breakdown of Quan arribin les convidades, la meva mare servirà l'amanida i jo serviré el pa.
Questions & Answers about Quan arribin les convidades, la meva mare servirà l'amanida i jo serviré el pa.
Because this quan-clause refers to a future event that has not happened yet. In Catalan, that usually calls for the present subjunctive:
- Quan arribin les convidades... = when the guests arrive
If you say quan arriben, it more often sounds like a habitual or repeated situation:
- Quan arriben les convidades, sempre obrim una ampolla de vi.
= When the guests arrive / Whenever the guests arrive, we always open a bottle of wine.
So in your sentence, arribin is the normal form.
Arribin is the present subjunctive, 3rd person plural, of arribar.
Here is the pattern:
- jo arribi
- tu arribis
- ell/ella arribi
- nosaltres arribem
- vosaltres arribeu
- ells/elles arribin
In the sentence, it matches les convidades, which is a plural subject, so arribin is the correct form.