Learn Spanish (Latin America): Hasta luego, ¡que Dios te bendiga siempre!

In Spanish, starting a sentence with que followed by a subjunctive verb (like bendiga) is a very common way to express a wish or hope. It is a shortcut for saying 'I hope that...' or 'May...' in English, which is why the translation says 'may God bless you always'.

Why do we use bendiga instead of bendice here?

Bendiga is the present subjunctive form of the verb bendecir (to bless). Because the phrase starting with que expresses a desire, hope, or wish, it triggers the subjunctive mood rather than the normal present tense (bendice).

How do we get the form bendiga from the verb bendecir?

The verb bendecir is irregular and works a lot like decir (to say). To find the subjunctive form, we start with the normal 'I' form (yo bendigo), drop the -o, and add the opposite ending for a 'He/She/It' subject. Since bendecir is an -ir verb, we add an -a, giving us bendiga for Dios.

Why is the pronoun te placed right before bendiga?