Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Cuando esta semana termine, miraré mi agenda y veré lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina. - When this week ends, I will look at my planner and see how balanced my routine will have been.

In Spanish, after time expressions like cuando, en cuanto, hasta que, etc., you normally use the subjunctive if you’re talking about a future event that hasn’t happened yet.

Cuando esta semana termine = When this week ends (in the future, not yet real)
Using the indicative (cuando esta semana termina) would suggest something habitual or already known, which doesn’t fit here.

So, because the end of the week is still in the future and uncertain from the speaker’s perspective, Spanish requires subjunctive: termine.

Could you also say “Cuando termine esta semana” instead of “Cuando esta semana termine”?

Yes. Both are correct and mean the same thing:

Cuando esta semana termine, …
Cuando termine esta semana, …

Spanish allows some flexibility in word order. Putting “esta semana” at the start can sound slightly more natural or emphatic in ordinary speech, but the difference is minimal. There’s no change in tense, mood, or meaning.

Why are “miraré” and “veré” in the future tense instead of present, when in English we say “I’ll look” or sometimes just “I look”?

English often uses the present after “when” for future time:

When this week ends, I’ll look at my schedule…

Spanish does not normally do this. For future time:

The “cuando” clause uses present subjunctive: cuando esta semana termine.
The main clause uses the future indicative: miraré, veré.

So:

Cuando esta semana termine, miraré mi agenda y veré…
Literally: When this week ends, I will look at my planner and I will see…

Using the present (miro, veo) here would sound like a general or habitual action, not a specific future plan.

What is the difference between “miraré mi agenda” and something like “veré mi agenda” or “revisaré mi agenda”?

Spanish distinguishes:

mirar = to look at (an intentional visual action)
ver = to see (more general perception; may or may not be intentional)
revisar = to check, review

Here, miraré mi agenda is natural: you’re intentionally looking at your planner to review it.

Alternatives:

Revisaré mi agenda – “I’ll check my planner” (very common and maybe even more precise).
Veré mi agenda – grammatically fine, but by itself more like “I’ll see my planner”; to express “I’ll check it,” mirar or revisar is more idiomatic in many contexts.

What does “lo” do in “veré lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina”?

Here “lo” is the neuter article used to turn an adjective into a noun-like idea. The pattern is:

lo + adjective + que + verb

It often means “how + adjective”:

lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina
= how balanced my routine will have been

Other examples:

No sabes lo cansado que estoy. – You don’t know how tired I am.
Me sorprendió lo caro que era. – I was surprised by how expensive it was.

So “lo” does not refer to a specific masculine noun; it creates an abstract idea: “the degree of balanced-ness.”

Why is it “equilibrada” (feminine) and not “equilibrado”?

Because “equilibrada” agrees in gender and number with “rutina”, which is:

la rutina → feminine singular
So the adjective must be equilibrada.

Even though “lo” is neuter, the adjective in the structure “lo + adjective + que + verb” still agrees with the noun it ultimately describes:

lo difícil que fue la tarea (tarea = feminine → difícil stays invariable)
lo contentos que estaban los niños (niños = masculine plural → contentos)
lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina (rutina = feminine singular → equilibrada)

Could you say “veré qué tan equilibrada habrá sido mi rutina” instead of “veré lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina”?

Yes, that’s possible and understandable:

veré qué tan equilibrada habrá sido mi rutina

Differences:

lo + adjective + que is very standard and widely used in all varieties of Spanish.
qué tan + adjective is also common, but its frequency and feel vary by country:
- Very common in much of Latin America (e.g., Mexico).
- Sounds a bit more informal/colloquial in some places.

Meaning-wise, they’re almost the same: “how balanced my routine will have been.” The original with “lo equilibrada que” is slightly more neutral/formal and pan-Hispanic.

Why is it “habrá sido” (future perfect) and not “ha sido”, “fue”, or “era”?

“habrá sido” is the future perfect:
haber (future) + past participle → habrá sido = will have been.

Timeline in the sentence:

Right now (speaking time)
The week ends → cuando esta semana termine
After that end point, I will look and see how balanced my routine will have been up to that point.

So habrá sido fits perfectly: you’re standing at a future moment (the end of the week) and looking back over the week.

Why not the others?

ha sido = has been → located in the present/past, not projecting from a future viewpoint.
fue = was (completed past), again centered in the past, not “by that future time it will have been.”
era = was/used to be (imperfect), describing ongoing or habitual past, not a completed span evaluated from a future point.

The future perfect clearly gives the idea “By the time the week ends, my routine will have been balanced (to such-and-such degree).”

Does “habrá sido” here also mean “must have been”, like in “Habrá sido difícil” = “It must have been difficult”?

It can have that meaning in other contexts, but in this specific sentence it does not.

Two main uses of the future perfect in Spanish:

Future completed by a given time
- Cuando llegues, ya habré terminado.
  When you arrive, I’ll have finished.
Conjecture/probability about a past event
- No vino; habrá estado enfermo.
  He didn’t come; he must have been sick.

In “veré lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina”, the structure with “veré” clearly anchors it in the first use: future evaluation of something that will already be completed at that time. It’s not expressing a guess; it’s a plan to check later.

What does “mi agenda” mean in Latin American Spanish? Is it like “agenda” in English?

In Latin American Spanish, “agenda” usually means:

a planner, diary, schedule book, or calendar where you note appointments and tasks.

So miraré mi agenda = I’ll look at my planner / calendar / schedule.

It does not normally mean a hidden “political agenda” in this context. For that sense, Spanish would use context or phrases like agenda política, intenciones ocultas, etc.

Is the tense combination “Cuando esta semana termine, miraré… y veré… lo equilibrada que habrá sido…” natural in Latin American Spanish?

Yes, it’s very natural and grammatically well-formed. The sequence is:

Cuando esta semana termine → future time, so present subjunctive.
miraré mi agenda y veré → main actions in the future → simple future.
lo equilibrada que habrá sido mi rutina → state completed by that future time → future perfect.

All three work together to give this timeline:

At the end of the week (future point), I will take an action (look at my planner) and, from that future vantage point, I will evaluate how my routine will have been over the week.