Question 1

Since this lesson is about the subjunctive, why is vuelan in the indicative here?

Accepted Answer

We use the indicative after cuando when we are talking about facts, general truths, or habits—things that regularly happen. We only use the subjunctive after cuando if the action hasn't happened yet (like referring to a specific future event). Since butterflies visiting flowers is a general fact, both vuelan and visitan stay in the present indicative.

Question 2

The English translation says 'butterflies' and 'flowers,' but the Spanish uses las mariposas and las flores. Why are the articles added?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, whenever you talk about a noun in a general sense (like all butterflies or all flowers), you must include the definite article (el, la, los, or las). English usually drops the article for general plurals, which is why it doesn't appear in the translation.

Question 3

Why is the verb vuelan instead of 'volan'?

Accepted Answer

The infinitive verb for 'to fly' is volar. In the present tense, it has a stem change where the o changes to ue in most forms. This gives us vuelan for 'they fly.' (Remember, the nosotros form keeps the original vowel: volamos).

Question 4

Why is there no word for 'they' before visitan?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, subject pronouns like ellas (they) are usually dropped if it's already clear who is doing the action. The subject (las mariposas) was just established in the first half of the sentence, and the -an ending on visitan confirms the verb belongs to a plural subject.

Cuando las mariposas vuelan, visitan las flores.

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