Breakdown of Quiero visitar a la cría cuando esté sana.
estar
to be (location/state)
visitar
to visit
querer
to want
la
the (feminine)
cuando
when (statement)
sano
healthy (in good health)
la cría
baby animal
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Quiero visitar a la cría cuando esté sana.
Why do we use the subjunctive esté after cuando here instead of the indicative está?
We use the subjunctive esté because the sentence is talking about an event in the future that has not happened yet. The baby animal is not healthy right now, but cuando (when) it finally gets healthy, the visit will happen. If you were stating a routine or general fact like 'I visit it whenever it is healthy', you would use the indicative está.
Why is there an a before la cría? I thought the personal 'a' was only for people.
The personal a is used for people, but it is also used for specific animals that we care about or have individualized, like pets, named animals, or an animal receiving care. Since the speaker wants to visit a specific baby animal, it gets the personal a.
What exactly is a cría? Can I use it for a human baby?
The word cría specifically refers to the offspring, litter, or baby of an animal. For a human baby, you would use bebé.
Why do we use estar (esté sana) instead of ser (sea sana)?
We use estar because health and physical conditions are treated as states in Spanish. The baby animal is currently not healthy, and the speaker is waiting for its condition to change so they can visit.
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