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

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.