No abro la lavadora hasta que termine el centrifugado.

Abro is the present tense, and in Spanish the present is often used for:

• habits
• routines
• general rules
• things the speaker normally does

So No abro la lavadora hasta que termine el centrifugado sounds like a normal rule or habit: this is what I do / I don’t open it before that stage is over.

If you said No abriré, that would sound more like one specific future occasion: I won’t open it.

Hasta que means until when it introduces a clause with a verb.

In this sentence, the second part has a conjugated verb, termine, so hasta que is the natural choice.

Compare:

• hasta que termine = until it finishes
• hasta el final del centrifugado = until the end of the spin cycle

A very common learner mistake is trying to use just hasta before a full clause. If there is a new verb after it, Spanish normally needs hasta que.

Because after hasta que, Spanish usually uses the subjunctive when the action has not happened yet from the speaker’s point of view.

Here, the spin cycle is still in progress, so the finishing is pending, not completed. That is why Spanish says:

• hasta que termine
  not
• hasta que termina

This is one of the most common patterns in Spanish:

• Espero hasta que llegue
• No salgo hasta que me llame
• No abro la lavadora hasta que termine el centrifugado

Termine is the present subjunctive, third person singular, from terminar.

The basic formation is:

• terminar → take the yo form: termino
• remove -o
• add subjunctive endings for -ar verbs

So:

• yo termine
• tú termines
• él/ella/usted termine
• nosotros terminemos
• ustedes/ellos terminen

In this sentence, it is third person singular because the subject is el centrifugado.

The subject is el centrifugado.

Spanish often places the subject after the verb, so the structure is:

• hasta que termine el centrifugado

Literally, this is something like:

• until finishes the spinning / the spin cycle

More natural English would be:

• until the spin cycle finishes
• until the spinning is over

So el centrifugado is not the object here; it is the thing that finishes.

Here el centrifugado refers to the spin cycle or the spinning stage of the washing machine.

The noun comes from centrifugar, which is the verb for spinning laundry to remove water.

Depending on country and context, Spanish speakers might also say things like:

• el ciclo de centrifugado
• el centrifugado
• la centrifugación in more technical language

For everyday speech, el centrifugado is very natural.

Spanish uses definite articles much more often than English.

So el centrifugado is normal because it refers to a specific, understood stage of the washing process. Spanish prefers to name that stage as a noun with an article.

English often says the spin cycle, and Spanish does the same kind of thing:

• el lavado
• el enjuague
• el centrifugado

Yes, la lavadora is very common and widely understood across Latin America.

That said, there are regional alternatives, such as:

• el lavarropas in some countries
• la máquina de lavar in some places

But la lavadora is a very safe, standard word and sounds natural in most of Latin America.

In everyday Spanish, abrir la lavadora is completely normal and usually means open the washing machine door/lid.

Just like English often says open the washing machine, Spanish does not need to specify the door unless you want to be extra precise.

If you wanted, you could also say:

• No abro la puerta de la lavadora hasta que termine el centrifugado

But the shorter version is very natural.

By default, it sounds most like a habit or general rule because of abro in the present tense.

It suggests something like: this is my normal practice.

However, with the right context, the Spanish present can also refer to a near-future situation. So if someone is standing next to the machine right now, the sentence could also mean something like:

• I’m not opening the washing machine until the spin cycle finishes

Spanish uses the present for that kind of immediate future quite often.

That version is much less natural for this meaning.

Hasta terminar el centrifugado can sound as if the subject of terminar is the same as the subject of abro, meaning until I finish the spin cycle, which is not really the idea here.

Since the thing that finishes is the cycle itself, Spanish prefers:

• hasta que termine el centrifugado

You might also hear:

• hasta que termine de centrifugar
• hasta que acabe el centrifugado

Those are also natural.

No, not without changing the meaning.

• hasta que termine = until it finishes
• cuando termine = when it finishes

In this sentence, the idea is that the speaker waits and does not open the machine before that point, so hasta que is the correct connector.

In Spanish, no normally goes directly before the conjugated verb.

So:

• No abro
• No quiero abrir
• No la abro

That is the standard position for simple negation. In this sentence, No abro la lavadora simply means I do not open the washing machine.