Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi jefa dice que el salario llegará el mismo día para todas. - My boss says the salary will arrive the same day for all of us.

It tells you the boss is a woman. Spanish nouns for many professions have masculine/feminine pairs: el jefe / la jefa. The speaker’s own gender doesn’t matter—you say mi jefa if your boss is female, whether you’re male or female.

Why is it todas and not todos at the end?

Todas is feminine plural and implies the group referred to is all female (e.g., all the employees are women). If the group is mixed or unspecified, standard Spanish uses the masculine plural todos. A neutral alternative is todo el mundo (“everyone”), common in Spain. Nonstandard forms like todes exist in some contexts but are not accepted in standard Spanish.

What does para mean here? Could I say a todas instead?

Here para expresses “for (all of them),” i.e., the arrangement applies equally to everyone. If you want the idea that the money “reaches” each person, you can use a with the destination sense:

Arrangement applying to the group: …llegará el mismo día para todas.
Reaching all recipients: …llegará a todas (las empleadas).
Both are correct but slightly different in focus.

Why is it el salario with a definite article? Why not just “salary,” or “my salary”?

Spanish typically uses a definite article for general or contextually understood nouns. El salario refers to the salary payment (the payroll) as a known concept in this context. If you mean specifically your own, say mi salario. In Spain, people also say el sueldo or la nómina in everyday speech.

Is salario the most natural word in Spain? What about sueldo, nómina, or paga?

Salario: formal/neutral term for salary.
Sueldo: very common in everyday Spanish.
Nómina: literally the payslip/payroll; often used metonymically for the pay itself.
Paga: colloquial for “pay,” and in Spain also “extra payment” (paga extra).
Examples you might hear: La nómina entra el mismo día, Nos ingresan el sueldo el mismo día.

Why use the simple future llegará? Could I say va a llegar or even present tense?

All are possible:

llegará: simple future; neutral for schedules/promises, sometimes a bit more formal.
va a llegar: periphrastic future; equally common and natural.
Present for scheduled events: El salario entra/llega el mismo día… In Spain, for bank deposits people often say entrar/ingresar: El sueldo entrará el mismo día.

What’s the difference between llegará and llegara?

llegará (with accent) = simple future, 3rd person singular: “will arrive.”
llegara (no accent) = imperfect subjunctive.
The accent changes the tense and meaning, so it’s crucial here.

Why is it dice (present) and not dijo (past)? How would it change in reported speech?

Dice reports what she is currently saying or stating as a general policy. If you move it to past reported speech, Spanish normally shifts the future to the conditional:

Present: Mi jefa dice que el salario llegará…
Past: Mi jefa dijo que el salario llegaría…

Do I need the que after dice? Can I say “Mi jefa dice el salario llegará…”?

You need que. In Spanish, verbs like decir require que to introduce the content clause: Mi jefa dice que…. Avoid de que here; with decir, de que is incorrect in standard usage.

Could this ever take the subjunctive, like dice que llegue?

With reporting a statement, you use the indicative: dice que llegará. You use the subjunctive after decir que when it conveys a command/request:

Reported statement: Dice que el salario llegará… (indicative)
Command/request: Dice que lleguemos temprano. (subjunctive)

Is the word order …que el salario llegará… fixed? Could I say …que llegará el salario…?

Both orders are correct:

…que el salario llegará… (subject before verb)
…que llegará el salario… (subject after verb)
Spanish allows both; the difference is minimal and often about rhythm/emphasis. The first is a bit more neutral here.

What exactly does el mismo día mean? Does mismo have to agree?

It means “on the same day,” here “the same day for everyone.” Mismo agrees with the noun: el mismo día, la misma semana, los mismos días. You can specify if needed: el mismo día del mes, ese mismo día.

Why no preposition like “on” before “the same day”? Why not en el mismo día?

Spanish expresses calendar days with the article alone: el lunes, el 15, el mismo día. En el mismo día is generally unnecessary here and can sound less natural unless you’re contrasting durations (“within the same day”).

Could I add an indirect object pronoun, like nos, to show it’s “to us”?

Yes: Mi jefa dice que nos llegará el salario el mismo día (a todas nosotras). That emphasizes the recipients (“will arrive to us”). It’s optional in your sentence; the original focuses on the uniform timing for everyone.

Why is el salario singular? Would los salarios be wrong?

Singular is common when talking about a general or collective event (the payroll run). Los salarios is also grammatically fine but highlights the plurality of individual salaries. Both are acceptable; singular is more idiomatic in this context.

Is there a more idiomatic way in Spain to say “the salary will arrive,” especially for bank deposits?

Yes, Spaniards often say entrar or ingresar/abonar when talking about deposits:

Mi jefa dice que el sueldo entrará el mismo día para todas.
Mi jefa dice que nos ingresarán la nómina el mismo día.