Breakdown of Cuando llegamos a casa, abrazo a mi hija y también quiero abrazar a mi abuela.
Questions & Answers about Cuando llegamos a casa, abrazo a mi hija y también quiero abrazar a mi abuela.
In this sentence, the present tense is describing a habitual action:
- Cuando llegamos a casa, abrazo a mi hija…
= Whenever we arrive home, I hug my daughter…
Spanish often uses the present indicative for routines and general truths, just like English.
If you wanted:
A specific past event:
Cuando llegamos a casa, abracé a mi hija…
(When we got home, I hugged my daughter…)A future event:
Cuando lleguemos a casa, abrazaré a mi hija…
(When we get home, I will hug my daughter…)
For future reference, Spanish usually uses subjunctive (here: lleguemos) after cuando when talking about a future event, but indicative (llegamos) for habitual or past situations.
Spanish almost always omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is:
- llegamos clearly means we arrive (first person plural).
- abrazo clearly means I hug (first person singular).
- quiero clearly means I want (first person singular).
Using yo or nosotros is only necessary for emphasis or contrast:
- Cuando nosotros llegamos a casa, yo abrazo a mi hija.
(Stresses that it is us who arrive, and I (not someone else) who hugs her.)
In neutral sentences like yours, native speakers in Spain normally leave out the subject pronouns.
In Spanish, casa can mean:
- la casa = the physical house.
- casa without article (especially with verbs of movement) = home.
So:
- Voy a la casa de mi amigo.
I am going to my friend’s house (a specific building). - Voy a casa.
I am going home (my own home, in general).
In your sentence, Cuando llegamos a casa means When we arrive home, so no article is used: a casa, not a la casa.
Because Spanish uses the personal a before a direct object that is a specific person (or beloved pet).
- Abrazo a mi hija.
I hug my daughter.
Here, mi hija is a specific, loved person, so we add a:
- a mi hija is still the direct object; a does not make it indirect.
Compare:
- Veo a María. – I see María.
- Veo la casa. – I see the house. (No a, because it’s not a person.)
So abrazo a mi hija is the correct structure; abrazo mi hija is ungrammatical.
You have:
- abrazo a mi hija – abrazo is the conjugated verb in the present: I hug.
- quiero abrazar a mi abuela – quiero is conjugated (I want), and abrazar is an infinitive (to hug).
In Spanish, when you use verbs like querer, poder, tener que, etc., you typically follow them with an infinitive:
- Quiero comer. – I want to eat.
- Puedo salir. – I can go out.
- Tengo que estudiar. – I have to study.
So:
- abrazo a mi hija = one simple action: I hug…
- quiero abrazar a mi abuela = desire + action: I want to hug…
Yes, but it slightly changes the meaning:
…abrazo a mi hija y también abrazo a mi abuela.
= I hug my daughter and I also hug my grandmother.
(Both actions actually happen.)…abrazo a mi hija y también quiero abrazar a mi abuela.
= I hug my daughter and I also want to hug my grandmother.
(It expresses a desire; maybe you do hug her, maybe not.)
So if you want to show a wish or intention, keep quiero abrazar. If you want to say the action really happens each time, use abrazo again.
The word order is flexible, but not all options sound equally natural.
Most neutral in Spain here:
- …y también quiero abrazar a mi abuela.
Possible but with a subtle change in emphasis:
- …y quiero también abrazar a mi abuela.
Sounds like you are putting a bit more focus on what you want: you want to hug her as well, in addition to something else you want.
Least natural in this sentence (though still possible in specific contexts):
- …y quiero abrazar también a mi abuela.
Emphasises a mi abuela as an additional person to hug (besides others).
For a simple learner sentence, stick to también quiero abrazar.
In standard Spanish, possessive adjectives like mi, tu, su, nuestro go without an article:
- mi hija – my daughter
- mi abuela – my grandmother
Using la mi hija sounds old‑fashioned, regional, or literary in modern Spanish, and is not standard.
So the correct, everyday forms are:
- mi hija
- mi abuela
Both are correct, but they have slightly different structures:
Cuando llegamos a casa, abrazo a mi hija…
Full clause with a conjugated verb (llegamos). Very clear, neutral.Al llegar a casa, abrazo a mi hija…
Uses al + infinitive (al llegar) to mean when / upon arriving.
It sounds a little more compact or formal, but is still very common.
Meaning-wise, in this context they can both translate as When we arrive home… or Upon arriving home….
For learners, cuando + [verb] is usually easier to master first.
Because the sentence talks about a habitual action, not a future, uncertain one.
Use indicative after cuando when:
- The action is habitual or completed in the past:
Cuando llegamos a casa, cenamos.
(Whenever we arrive home, we have dinner.)
Use subjunctive after cuando when:
- The action is in the future and not yet realised:
Cuando lleguemos a casa, cenaremos.
(When we get home, we will have dinner.)
Your sentence is describing a routine, so llegamos (indicative) is correct.
Yes, but it changes the focus:
Abrazo a mi hija.
Emphasises what I do to her: I hug my daughter.Nos abrazamos.
Means We hug (each other). It is reciprocal: both people are involved equally.
If you want the structure to stay parallel with quiero abrazar a mi abuela, it is clearer to keep:
- Abrazo a mi hija…
- …quiero abrazar a mi abuela.
If the idea is more mutual, you could say:
- Cuando llegamos a casa, nos abrazamos.
(When we arrive home, we hug each other.)
In most of Spain today:
- ll is pronounced the same as y in yo.
So llegamos sounds like yegamos (approximately).
This sound is usually a kind of soft y sound, similar to the y in English yes, but often a bit stronger or more friction‑like in some regions.
Only a few areas (like parts of northern Spain and some Latin American regions) still distinguish between ll and y with different sounds. For standard Spanish (Spain), you can safely pronounce ll like y.