Word
En cuanto terminamos de comer, la camarera quita los platos de la mesa.
Meaning
As soon as we finish eating, the waitress takes the plates away from the table.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of En cuanto terminamos de comer, la camarera quita los platos de la mesa.
comer
to eat
nosotros
we
la mesa
the table
de
of
Questions & Answers about En cuanto terminamos de comer, la camarera quita los platos de la mesa.
Why does the sentence start with en cuanto? What does it mean here?
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:
But en cuanto is one of the most useful and frequent ones.
Why is it terminamos and not terminemos?
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:
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
Does terminamos mean we finish or we finished?