Breakdown of Cuando la mariposa visite la flor, vamos a ver sus alas.
ver
to see / to look / appear
la flor
the flower
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
ir
to go
a
to
visitar
to visit
la
the (feminine)
cuando
when (statement)
la mariposa
the butterfly
el ala
the wing (f)
Questions & Answers about Cuando la mariposa visite la flor, vamos a ver sus alas.
Why is it visite (subjunctive) instead of visita (indicative)?
Because we are talking about a future event that hasn't happened yet! After time words like cuando, Spanish uses the subjunctive mood (here, visite) to show that the action is anticipated or pending. We are waiting for the butterfly to arrive.
What would the sentence mean if it used the indicative visita instead?
It would change the meaning from a future event to a general fact. If you said Cuando la mariposa visita la flor, vemos sus alas, it would translate to "Whenever the butterfly visits the flower, we see its wings." You use the indicative after cuando only for habits or past completed actions.
Why is it sus alas if there is only one butterfly? Shouldn't it be singular?
In Spanish, possessive adjectives like su and sus (meaning his, her, its, or their) must match the noun they are attached to, not the owner. Because the word alas (wings) is plural, you must use the plural sus, even though there is only one butterfly.
Could I use the future tense veremos instead of vamos a ver?
Yes, absolutely. Veremos sus alas (we will see its wings) is grammatically perfect. However, in spoken Latin American Spanish, using ir a + infinitive (like vamos a ver, meaning "we are going to see") is often the most natural and common way to talk about the future in everyday conversation.
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