Breakdown of Cuando mi abuelo se jubile, va a viajar a México.
México
Mexico
el abuelo
the grandfather
mi
my
ir
to go
viajar
to travel
a
to
cuando
when (statement)
jubilarse
to retire
Questions & Answers about Cuando mi abuelo se jubile, va a viajar a México.
Why is it jubile instead of jubila?
Because the retirement hasn't happened yet! When we use cuando (when) to talk about a future event, Spanish requires the subjunctive mood. If we used the regular present tense (jubila), it would mean he retires as a regular, repeating habit, which doesn't make sense here.
Why is there a se before jubile?
Since jubilarse is an -ar verb, why does it end in an -e here?
That is how the present subjunctive is formed. You take the regular verb stem and swap the vowel: -ar verbs take -e endings, while -er and -ir verbs take -a endings. Since mi abuelo is third person singular (he), the ending is -e.
Can I use the regular future tense instead of va a viajar?
Yes! You can say viajará (he will travel) instead of va a viajar (he is going to travel). However, using ir a + infinitive is much more common in everyday Latin American spoken Spanish. Both work perfectly with a cuando + subjunctive phrase.
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