Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): ¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados? - Do you know anyone who lives nearby and is punctual on Saturdays?

Viva is the present subjunctive of vivir. Spanish uses the subjunctive after descriptions of a person/thing that is unknown, indefinite, or not yet identified, especially in questions or requests.

Compare:

¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca…?
→ You don’t know if such a person exists; you’re asking if anyone like that exists.
Conozco a alguien que vive cerca.
→ You know a specific person who lives nearby (so you use the normal indicative: vive).

Another example:

Busco un libro que sea fácil de leer. (I don’t have it; I’m looking for some book with that property.)
Tengo un libro que es fácil de leer. (I have a specific book; I’m describing it.)

So viva (subjunctive) marks the idea of an unspecified, maybe-exists person.

Why is it “sea puntual” and not “es puntual”?

For the exact same reason as viva:

The sentence is asking about an unspecified person, not someone already known.
That triggers the subjunctive: sea puntual.

If you were talking about a specific person you already know, you’d use the indicative:

Conozco a alguien que vive cerca y es puntual los sábados.
(I know someone; I’m describing their habits.)

In a question seeking a potential person, use the subjunctive:

¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca y sea puntual…?

What’s the difference between “conocer” and “saber” here? Could I say “¿Sabes a alguien…?”?

No, you can’t say “¿Sabes a alguien…?”. That’s incorrect.

Conocer = to be acquainted with, to be familiar with (people, places, things).
- ¿Conoces a alguien…? = Do you know someone… (personally or at least know who they are)
Saber = to know facts, information, skills, “to know that…”.
- ¿Sabes si alguien vive cerca? = Do you know if someone lives nearby?
- ¿Sabes de alguien que viva cerca? = Do you know of someone who lives nearby? (this is okay)

So in the given sentence, conocer is the right verb:

¿Conoces a alguien…? = Do you know (are you acquainted with) someone…

Why is it “que” and not “quien” in “alguien que viva cerca”?

Both que and quien can refer to people, but:

Que is the default relative pronoun and is much more common.
Quien is more restricted, often used:
- after prepositions (e.g. la persona a quien llamé)
- or in more formal/ literary style.

With alguien, speakers normally use que:

alguien que viva cerca – someone who lives nearby
alguien que habla español – someone who speaks Spanish

Alguien quien viva cerca is grammatically possible but sounds odd and overly formal in everyday Latin American speech.

What exactly does “cerca” mean here? Should it be “cerca de aquí” or “cerca de mí”?

On its own, cerca means “near / nearby / close by”. In many contexts, that’s enough:

Vivo cerca. = I live nearby.

If you want to be more specific, you can add de + a reference:

cerca de aquí – near here
cerca de tu casa – near your house
cerca de la estación – near the station

In the sentence:

¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca…?

the context is expected to clarify “near where.” It might mean near you, near the workplace, near the speaker, etc. That’s why cerca alone is acceptable and very natural.

What does “puntual” mean here? Is it like “punctual” in English?

Yes, puntual is very similar to English punctual, and also to “on time” or “reliable about time”.

Es muy puntual. – He/She is very punctual.
No es puntual. Siempre llega tarde. – They’re not punctual. They always arrive late.

In “sea puntual los sábados”, it means:

Someone who shows up on time on Saturdays,
or can be relied on to be on time for something happening on Saturdays (work, classes, etc.).

Why is it “los sábados” and not “en los sábados” or just “sábados”?

In Spanish, to express “on Saturdays” (as a habitual thing), you normally use:

los + day of the week

So:

Trabajo los sábados. – I work on Saturdays.
Salimos los viernes. – We go out on Fridays.

Saying “en los sábados” is not natural for this meaning. Just “sábados” without los can work in some note-like contexts (e.g. in a schedule), but in full normal speech, los sábados is the idiomatic form.

Is the word order “que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados” fixed? Can I change it?

You have some flexibility in word order, especially with adjectives and clauses. These are all natural:

¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados?
¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca y que sea puntual los sábados? (adds a second “que”; slightly more formal/emphatic)
¿Conoces a alguien que sea puntual los sábados y viva cerca? (just swaps the order of the two qualities)

Minor rearrangements like:

¿Conoces a alguien puntual los sábados que viva cerca?

are technically understandable, but they sound awkward or unclear. The original order (verb phrase viva cerca + sea puntual) is the most natural.

Why doesn’t “puntual” change form? Should it be “puntuales” or something?

Adjectives in Spanish agree in number and usually in gender with the noun they describe.

alguien is grammatically singular and masculine by default, but it can refer to any gender.
puntual ends in -l, which is a form that normally doesn’t change for masculine/feminine in the singular:
- el chico puntual
- la chica puntual

If it were plural (e.g. algunas personas), then the adjective would be plural:

personas puntuales – punctual people

So here:

alguien (singular) → puntual (singular) is correct.

Why is there no subject pronoun like “él” or “ella”, or no “que él viva”?

In Spanish, when you use a relative clause like “que viva cerca”, the “que” already acts as the connector referring back to alguien.

alguien que viva cerca ≈ “someone who lives nearby”

You don’t say:

~alguien que él viva cerca~ (incorrect / unnatural)

Spanish generally drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form or from a word like que. The subject of viva and sea is alguien implicitly:

alguien que viva cerca
alguien que sea puntual

Could I say “¿Sabes de alguien que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados?” instead? Is it different from “¿Conoces a alguien…?”

Yes, you can say:

¿Sabes de alguien que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados?

Differences:

¿Conoces a alguien…?
- Suggests personal acquaintance: Do you personally know someone like that?
¿Sabes de alguien…?
- More like: Do you know of any such person?
- They might not be a friend; you might just know the information that such a person exists.

Both are common, but the nuance is a bit different.

Could I use “algún” instead of “alguien”, like “¿Conoces a algún…?”?

You can use algún if you change the structure a bit, because algún must go before a masculine singular noun:

¿Conoces a alguien que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados?
(someone)

Possible alternative:

¿Conoces a algún vecino que viva cerca y sea puntual los sábados?
(any neighbor who fits that description)

So:

alguien – pronoun: “someone”
algún + noun – “any [noun]” / “some [noun]”

You can’t say “¿Conoces a algún que viva…?” without a noun. You must add a noun after algún.