Learn Spanish (Latin America): Quizás armemos la carpa en el bosque. - Maybe we will pitch the tent in the forest.

Words like quizás (maybe) express doubt or probability. When you use them, you often follow them with the subjunctive to emphasize that the action is uncertain. If you felt more certain, you could actually use the indicative armamos, but the subjunctive is very common here to show that pitching the tent is just a possibility.

The translation says 'we will pitch,' which is future tense. Why does Spanish use the present subjunctive here?

In Spanish, the present subjunctive is frequently used after probability words like quizás to talk about uncertain future events. You do not need a specific future tense here; armemos naturally covers future uncertainty in this context.

Does the verb armar usually mean 'to pitch'? I thought it meant 'to arm' with weapons.

It can mean 'to arm,' but in everyday Spanish, armar is widely used to mean 'to put together' or 'to assemble.' So, armar la carpa literally translates to assembling the tent, which is how you say 'to pitch a tent.' You also use armar for things like putting together furniture or doing a jigsaw puzzle.

Is carpa the standard word for tent? I feel like I have seen other words for it.