La tienda promete devolver el dinero siempre que guardes el recibo.

The store promises to return the money as long as you keep the receipt.

Breakdown of La tienda promete devolver el dinero siempre que guardes el recibo.

• tú: you
• la tienda: the store
• devolver: to return
• el dinero: the money
• prometer: to promise
• guardar: to keep
• el recibo: the receipt
• siempre que: as long as

Questions & Answers about La tienda promete devolver el dinero siempre que guardes el recibo.

What does siempre que mean here, and how is it different from just si (if) or cuando (when)?

In this sentence, siempre que means as long as / provided that.

• La tienda promete devolver el dinero siempre que guardes el recibo.
  → The store promises to refund the money as long as you keep the receipt.

Rough guide:

• siempre que + subjunctive = as long as / provided that / on condition that
• si + indicative = if (more neutral condition)
• cuando + indicative = when(ever), more about time than condition

So siempre que here expresses a condition, not just a time. It emphasizes that refunding the money depends on you keeping the receipt.

Why is guardes (subjunctive) used instead of guardas?

Guardes is the present subjunctive of guardar (to keep). It’s used because siempre que is expressing a condition that may or may not be fulfilled.

• siempre que + subjunctive → conditional idea: as long as / provided that / on the condition that

Using guardes signals:

• The action is not a fact yet (it’s hypothetical).
• It’s part of a requirement for the promise.

If you used guardas (indicative), it would sound more like a general time/frequency statement (whenever you keep the receipt), and native speakers would usually not choose that here for a store policy. Guardes is the natural choice.

Would it be wrong to say siempre que guardas el recibo?

Not exactly “wrong”, but it sounds unnatural in this context and changes the feel.

• siempre que guardes el recibo
  → condition, policy: as long as you keep the receipt (in any case where you do)

• siempre que guardas el recibo
  → would tend to be understood as a repeated time/frequency: whenever you keep the receipt…
  But in actual usage, for policies and rules, Spanish speakers overwhelmingly prefer the subjunctive here.

So for a store policy or terms and conditions, you should use guardes, not guardas.

What person is guardes, and who is being talked to?

Guardes is the tú form (2nd person singular, informal) in the present subjunctive.

So the implied full sentence is:

• …siempre que (tú) guardes el recibo.
  → Addressing you informally (one person).

In normal Spanish, the subject pronoun tú is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who is being talked to.

How would the sentence change if I wanted to be formal and use usted instead of tú?

You change guardes to the usted form guarde:

• La tienda promete devolver el dinero siempre que guarde el recibo.

This now means:

• The store promises to refund the money as long as you (formal, singular) keep the receipt.

Everything else stays the same; only the verb form shifts from tú to usted.

Why do we say promete devolver el dinero and not promete que devolverá el dinero?

Both are possible, but they differ slightly in structure and style:

1. Promete devolver el dinero

   • prometer + infinitive
   • Very natural, sounds direct and “policy-like”
   • Literally: promises to refund the money.

2. Promete que devolverá el dinero

   • prometer que + future
   • Literally: promises that it will refund the money.
   • Also correct, just a bit more wordy and less “headline-style”.

For written rules, ads, or store policies, promete devolver el dinero is more concise and very common.

Why is it devolver el dinero and not something like devolverte el dinero?

It could be devolverte el dinero in a different context, but here the sentence is more impersonal and generic.

• devolver el dinero

  • Focuses on the money as an object.
  • Sounds like a general policy: refund the money (in general).

• devolverte el dinero

  • Emphasizes you as the recipient.
  • Would mean: refund you the money / give your money back to you.

In a written policy or sign, it’s common to phrase it more generally as devolver el dinero rather than focusing on “you” with an object pronoun.

Where could object pronouns go in a sentence like this, if we did include them?

With devolver in the infinitive form, you have two main options:

1. Attach to the infinitive:

   • La tienda promete devolverte el dinero.
   • La tienda promete devolvértelo. (refund it to you)

2. Put before the conjugated verb (less common here, but grammatically possible if you change the structure):

   • La tienda te promete devolver el dinero.
   • La tienda te lo promete devolver. (sounds a bit clunky; usually avoided)

For clear, “policy-style” Spanish, the simple version promete devolver el dinero (no pronouns) is often preferred.

Why is it la tienda and not just tienda without the article?

Spanish almost always needs a definite article (el, la, los, las) before a singular countable noun when it’s being used as a subject:

• La tienda promete… ✅
• Tienda promete… ❌ (wrong in standard Spanish)

So even if in English you might say just “Store refunds money…” in a headline, in Spanish you need la:

• La tienda promete devolver el dinero…

Why is it el dinero and not tu dinero?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different focuses:

• el dinero

  • Neutral, general: the money (in question)
  • Sounds like a standard rule that applies to any customer.

• tu dinero

  • More personal: your money
  • Sounds like speaking directly and informally to one specific customer.

For a general policy sentence, el dinero is more typical and neutral.
In an ad aimed at you personally, they might use tu dinero for a more personal tone.

Does recibo always mean a store receipt, or can it mean “bill” or “invoice”?

In Latin American Spanish:

• recibo usually refers to:
  • A receipt (proof of payment)
  • Or a bill you receive for services (e.g., recibo de luz = electricity bill)

In a store context (like this sentence), el recibo most naturally corresponds to:

• the receipt you get when you pay.

In some countries, especially for formal business invoices, you will also hear factura. A store might say:

• Guarde el recibo → keep the (simple) receipt.
• Guarde la factura → keep the formal invoice (for tax, etc.).

Here, recibo = till receipt / proof of purchase.

Is this usage of tienda and recibo natural in Latin America in particular?

Yes.

• tienda is widely used across Latin America for “store” or “shop.”
  Other words you might also hear:

  • negocio (business/store)
  • almacén (often a bigger store, warehouse, or department store; varies by country)
  • local (store unit, premises)

• recibo is a perfectly natural word for “receipt” in many Latin American countries in everyday speech, especially in smaller shops. Some places prefer nota or factura, but recibo is widely understood.

So La tienda promete devolver el dinero siempre que guardes el recibo sounds natural in Latin America.

Could siempre que ever mean “whenever” instead of “as long as”?

Yes. Siempre que can have two main meanings, depending on context and whether the verb is indicative or subjunctive:

1. Time / frequency: “whenever / every time that”

   • Usually with indicative:
     
     • Siempre que vienes, traes chocolates.
       → Whenever you come, you bring chocolates.

2. Condition: “as long as / provided that”

   • Usually with subjunctive:
     
     • Te ayudo siempre que me pagues.
       → I’ll help you as long as you pay me.

In your sentence, guardes is subjunctive, so siempre que guardes el recibo clearly has the conditional meaning: as long as / provided that you keep the receipt.