En cuanto terminamos de comer, la camarera quita los platos de la mesa.

En cuanto is a common time expression meaning as soon as.

So:

• En cuanto terminamos de comer = As soon as we finish eating

It introduces a subordinate clause about time. In everyday Spanish, en cuanto is very natural and common.

Similar expressions are:

• apenas
• tan pronto como
• nada más

But en cuanto is one of the most useful and frequent ones.

Here, terminamos is in the present indicative, not the subjunctive.

That is because the sentence describes something seen as a normal, real sequence of events:

• En cuanto terminamos de comer, la camarera quita los platos...

In Spanish, when talking about habitual actions or a general present-time sequence, the indicative is normal after en cuanto.

You are likely to see the subjunctive after en cuanto when the action refers to the future:

• En cuanto terminemos de comer, la camarera quitará los platos.
• As soon as we finish eating, the waitress will clear the plates.

So the difference is mainly:

• terminamos = present / habitual / real situation
• terminemos = future-oriented situation

In this sentence, terminamos means we finish.

The form terminamos can mean either:

• we finish — present
• we finished — preterite

The two forms are spelled the same, so you understand them from context.

Here, the rest of the sentence is also in the present:

• la camarera quita

So the natural reading is present/habitual:

• As soon as we finish eating, the waitress clears the plates from the table.

After terminar, Spanish often uses de + infinitive to mean to finish doing something.

So:

• terminar de comer = to finish eating
• terminar de leer = to finish reading
• terminar de trabajar = to finish working

This is a very common structure.

Be careful not to translate word by word from English. In Spanish, you normally say:

• Terminé de comer not
• Terminé comer

Because after terminar de, Spanish uses an infinitive to express the action.

So:

• terminamos de comer = we finish eating

The focus is on the activity, not the noun.

If you used a noun, the structure would be different:

• terminamos la comida = we finished the meal

Both are possible, but they do not sound exactly the same:

• terminamos de comer focuses on the act of eating
• terminamos la comida focuses more on the meal as a thing/event

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending usually shows who the subject is.

So:

• terminamos already tells you the subject is we
• quita tells you the subject is he/she/it, and here the noun la camarera gives the subject clearly

That is why Spanish normally says:

• En cuanto terminamos de comer, la camarera quita los platos...

instead of:

• En cuanto nosotros terminamos de comer, ella quita los platos...

Adding nosotros or ella is possible, but usually only for emphasis or contrast.

In Spain, camarero / camarera is the usual word for waiter / waitress.

In many parts of Latin America, mesero / mesera is more common.

Since this is Spanish from Spain, la camarera sounds the most natural.

Yes. Quitar basically means to remove, take away, or clear.

In this context:

• quitar los platos de la mesa = to clear/remove the plates from the table

In restaurant English, you would often translate it naturally as:

• the waitress clears the plates from the table

So quitar is the normal everyday verb here, even though its literal sense is remove or take away.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

So:

• quita los platos de la mesa

is the normal way to say:

• clears the plates from the table

Even if English might sometimes sound fine with a more general idea, Spanish usually wants the article with specific, visible objects in the situation.

Here, los platos means the plates involved in this meal — the ones on the table.

Because Spanish normally uses the article with a noun like mesa in this kind of phrase:

• de la mesa = from the table

You are talking about a specific table, the one where the people are eating.

So:

• quita los platos de la mesa = removes the plates from the table

Without the article, de mesa would usually mean something else, often more like table- as an adjective in certain expressions.

Yes, in many contexts you could.

• quitar los platos = remove / clear the plates
• recoger los platos = pick up / collect the plates

Both can work in a restaurant context, but they are not identical in feel:

• quitar emphasizes removing them from the table
• recoger emphasizes gathering or picking them up

In this sentence, quita los platos de la mesa is very natural because the phrase de la mesa makes the idea of removal especially clear.

Yes. Spanish often uses the present tense for:

• habits
• routines
• general truths
• typical sequences

So this sentence can describe what normally happens:

• As soon as we finish eating, the waitress clears the plates from the table.

It is not necessarily about one single event happening right now. It can describe a repeated or typical situation.

It has two parts:

1. a time clause:
   • En cuanto terminamos de comer
2. a main clause:
   • la camarera quita los platos de la mesa

So the pattern is:

• En cuanto + clause, main clause

This is a very useful structure for linking events in time.

For example:

• En cuanto llego a casa, me ducho.

• As soon as I get home, I take a shower.

• En cuanto acaba la película, salimos.
• As soon as the film ends, we leave.

Yes. Spanish could also say:

• La camarera quita los platos de la mesa en cuanto terminamos de comer.

That means the same thing.

Putting En cuanto terminamos de comer first gives a slightly stronger focus to the timing: as soon as we finish eating.

Starting with the time clause is very common and natural.