Cuando mi novio llega, beso su mano.

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Breakdown of Cuando mi novio llega, beso su mano.

• mi: my
• cuando: when
• su: his

Questions & Answers about Cuando mi novio llega, beso su mano.

Why is it llega and not llegue after cuando?

In Spanish, cuando + indicative is used for habitual, repeated, or generally true actions:

• Cuando mi novio llega, beso su mano.
  = Whenever my boyfriend arrives, I kiss his hand. (habit)

You use cuando + subjunctive for a specific future event that hasn’t happened yet:

• Cuando mi novio llegue, le besaré la mano.
  = When my boyfriend arrives (later), I will kiss his hand.

So llega (indicative) is correct here because the sentence describes a regular habit, not a one‑off future event.

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Can this sentence talk about a future event, or only about a habit?

As written, Cuando mi novio llega, beso su mano is normally understood as a habitual action: “Whenever he arrives, I kiss his hand.”

To talk about a single future situation, you would usually change both verbs:

• Cuando mi novio llegue, le besaré la mano.
  = When my boyfriend arrives, I’ll kiss his hand.

So:

• Present indicative in both parts → habit.
• Subjunctive after cuando
  • future (or another present with future meaning) → specific future time.

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Can I change the word order to Cuando llega mi novio, beso su mano?