Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Su novio le prometió un anillo sencillo cuando terminen la carrera. - Her boyfriend promised her a simple ring when they finish their degree.

It can mean his boyfriend
It can mean her boyfriend
It can even mean their boyfriend (if they refers to one person with unknown gender, or to a group)

Spanish does not mark gender in su, only number:

su = his / her / their (singular owner)
sus = his / her / their (plural owner or plural thing owned)

So you need extra context (previous sentences, situation, etc.) to know whether it’s his, her, or their boyfriend. In speech or writing, Spanish speakers sometimes make it explicit with phrases like el novio de ella / de él when it could be confusing.

What exactly does novio mean in Spain? Is it just boyfriend?

In Spain, novio is quite flexible. It can mean:

Boyfriend – a romantic partner in a steady relationship
Fiancé – a man you are engaged to
Groom – as in el novio y la novia at a wedding (the groom and the bride)

For a long‑term partner, many speakers also use pareja (gender‑neutral: partner).

Some contrasts:

novio / novia – clearly romantic
pareja – romantic partner, more neutral/formal and doesn’t specify gender
chico / chica – can mean boy/girl, guy, or sometimes boyfriend/girlfriend, but this depends heavily on context and tone

In this sentence, su novio is best understood as her/his boyfriend (and possibly fiancé, depending on context).

What does the pronoun le refer to, and why is it le prometió and not la prometió?

In le prometió, the structure is:

prometió = he/she promised (3rd person singular preterite of prometer)
un anillo sencillo = the direct object (what was promised)
le = the indirect object pronoun (to whom it was promised)

So:

le = to him / to her / to them (singular)
It refers back to su novio’s partner (the person who is getting the ring).

In Spanish, with the verb prometer:

You promise something to someone
- Prometió un anillo (algo) a su novia (a alguien).
- With pronoun: Le prometió un anillo.

That someone must be expressed with an indirect object:

le (to him/her)
or les (to them, plural)

Using la instead:

la is a direct object pronoun (her, it – feminine).
La prometió would mean He promised her (as the thing), which doesn’t fit the meaning. The thing promised is the ring, not the woman.

So le is correct because it marks the person as the indirect object: He promised her a simple ring.

Could you say prometió un anillo sencillo a ella instead of le prometió un anillo sencillo?

Yes, you can, but there are a couple of points of nuance and grammar:

Standard pattern with a pronoun (very common):
- Le prometió un anillo sencillo a ella.
  This is called clitic doubling: you use le plus a ella for clarity or emphasis. In Spain this sounds very natural.
Without the pronoun (less common but grammatical):
- Prometió un anillo sencillo a ella.
  This is possible and correct, but in everyday speech many Spaniards still prefer to include le:
  Le prometió un anillo sencillo a ella.
Pronoun alone (most usual when the person is already clear):
- Le prometió un anillo sencillo.
  Once it’s clear who you’re talking about, just le is normally enough.

The crucial grammar rule: if the recipient is expressed only as a pronoun, the pronoun must appear (le prometió…). When you add an explicit phrase (a ella), the pronoun is very frequent and sounds natural, though strictly speaking it’s not always required.

What tense is prometió, and why not prometía or ha prometido?

Prometió is the preterite (indefinido) of prometer, 3rd person singular:

prometer → prometió = he/she promised (a completed action at a specific time in the past).

In Spain:

Preterite (prometió)
Used for a finished, specific past event:
Su novio le prometió un anillo sencillo… = At some point (we see it as a single completed moment), her/his boyfriend made that promise.
Imperfect (prometía)
Would suggest an ongoing, repeated, or background action in the past:
- Su novio le prometía un anillo sencillo… = Her boyfriend used to promise her a simple ring / it was habitual or incomplete.
Present perfect (ha prometido)
In Spain, used for recent past or with some connection to the present:
- Su novio le ha prometido un anillo sencillo… = Her boyfriend has promised her a simple ring (and that promise is still relevant now).

So prometió frames the promise as a single, finished past event, without especially stressing its current relevance.

Why is sencillo placed after anillo (un anillo sencillo) instead of before the noun?

In Spanish, the default position for most adjectives is after the noun:

un anillo sencillo = a simple/plain ring

Putting the adjective before the noun is possible but usually:

more literary or stylistic, or
gives a certain subjective or emotional nuance.

Compare:

un anillo sencillo – a plain, not-fancy ring (neutral description).
un sencillo anillo – sounds more poetic or emphatic, like only a simple ring, highlighting its modesty or contrast with something more extravagant.

In everyday Spanish from Spain, un anillo sencillo is the normal, neutral word order.

What does sencillo mean here exactly? Is it the same as simple?

Here sencillo describes the style of the ring:

not elaborate, not flashy, plain, modest.

So un anillo sencillo ≈ a plain/simple ring (no big diamond, not very ornate).

Nuances:

sencillo
- Often means uncomplicated, modest, not luxurious.
- Common for clothing, jewelry, people’s lifestyle:
  - un vestido sencillo – a plain dress
  - una persona sencilla – a simple, unpretentious person
simple
- Can also mean simple, but in some contexts it can carry the sense simple-minded / naïve / a bit stupid when applied to people.
- For objects or ideas, simple can mean easy, not complex, not necessarily modest.

For jewelry or clothes, sencillo is usually the more natural choice in Spain when you mean not ostentatious.

Why is it cuando terminen la carrera with terminen in the subjunctive, not cuando terminan la carrera?

After cuando, Spanish uses subjunctive when referring to an event that is:

in the future,
not yet realized, and
seen as uncertain / not done yet.

Here:

cuando terminen la carrera = when they finish their degree (in the future)

Because it’s a future event (they haven’t finished yet), Spanish uses present subjunctive:

terminen (present subjunctive, 3rd person plural)

Contrast:

Cuando terminan la carrera, se van de viaje.
This would usually describe a habitual action, like Whenever they finish the degree, they go on a trip (more generic).
Cuando terminaron la carrera, se fueron de viaje.
Past action, both verbs in indicative; they actually did finish, we’re narrating a real past event.

Key rule:
With time conjunctions like cuando, después de que, hasta que, en cuanto, etc.:

Future / not yet occurred → subjunctive
- Te llamaré cuando llegue. – I’ll call you when I arrive.
Habitual / past / certain → indicative
- Siempre me llama cuando llega. – He always calls me when he arrives.

Who is the subject of terminen, and why is it plural?

Terminen is 3rd person plural present subjunctive of terminar.

Its subject is an implied “they” (ellos/ellas). The most natural reading is:

They = the couple (the person with the boyfriend + the boyfriend).
Both are doing the degree and will finish it.

So:

cuando terminen la carrera ≈ when they (the two of them) finish the degree.

If only one of them was finishing the degree (for example, just the girlfriend), you would expect:

cuando termine la carrera (3rd person singular).

The sentence you have suggests that both members of the couple are students and will finish together, unless a wider context says otherwise.

What does la carrera mean in Spain? Is it “career”, “race”, or “degree”?

In Spain, in university contexts, la carrera most commonly means:

university degree / degree program / university studies

So:

terminar la carrera = to finish (one’s) degree,
roughly like finish college / finish university.

Other meanings of carrera, depending on context:

race (running, car race):
- una carrera de coches – a car race
career / professional path (less common than carrera profesional or profesión in this sense)
run in tights/stockings: una carrera en las medias

Here, with terminen la carrera, in Spain it very clearly means finishing their university studies.

If terminen is plural, why is la carrera singular and not las carreras?

There are a couple of natural readings:

They are doing the same degree (for example, both studying Medicine):
- In that case, la carrera is singular because it’s one program they share.
- terminen la carrera = when they finish (their shared) degree.
The speaker is thinking of “their studies” as a single block, even if technically they might be on different degrees:
- Spanish often uses la carrera (singular) in a somewhat generic or collective sense:
  - Cuando terminen la carrera ≈ when they finish university.

If the speaker wants to emphasize that each one has a different degree program, they might say:

cuando terminen sus carreras – when they finish their (respective) degrees.

So the plural verb + singular noun combination is normal here if:

They share one degree program, or
The speaker conceptualizes “university” as one phase of life for the couple.

Can we change the word order, like Su novio le prometió, cuando terminen la carrera, un anillo sencillo or Cuando terminen la carrera, su novio le prometió un anillo sencillo?

Spanish word order is fairly flexible, especially with time clauses. The most common options are:

Main clause first, time clause later (as in your example):
- Su novio le prometió un anillo sencillo cuando terminen la carrera.
  Very natural and neutral.
Time clause first, then main clause:
- Cuando terminen la carrera, su novio le prometió un anillo sencillo.
  This is possible, but many speakers would slightly adjust the tense to keep narrative flow (for example, le ha prometido). Strictly as written, it sounds like:
  When they finish the degree, her boyfriend promised her a simple ring, which is a bit odd in English too because of the past tense after a future time clause. In real usage you’d more likely hear:
- Cuando terminen la carrera, su novio le ha prometido un anillo sencillo.
Time clause inserted in the middle (with commas):
- Su novio le prometió, cuando terminen la carrera, un anillo sencillo.
  Grammatically acceptable, but less fluid in everyday speech. It gives extra emphasis to the time condition, sounding a bit more written/literary.

So yes, you can move cuando terminen la carrera, but you may want to re-check the tense of prometió if you place the time clause at the beginning and want it to sound fully natural in Spanish from Spain.