Breakdown of La hormiga pica cuando defiende su casa.
la casa
the house
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
la
the (feminine)
cuando
when (statement)
defender
to defend
la hormiga
the ant
picar
to sting
Questions & Answers about La hormiga pica cuando defiende su casa.
We are learning about the subjunctive with cuando. Why does this sentence use the indicative (defiende) instead?
In Spanish, temporal clauses starting with cuando take the indicative when describing habitual actions, routines, or general facts. Because we are stating a general fact about what ants regularly do, we use the indicative defiende. You only use the subjunctive after cuando if the action is in the future and hasn't happened yet.
I thought the verb for "to bite" was morder. Why use picar here?
Why is it defiende and not defende?
The infinitive is defender, which is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, the second e in the stem changes to ie for most subjects (I, you, he/she/it, they). Therefore, "it defends" becomes defiende.
Is casa really the right word for an ant's home?
In everyday Spanish, it is very common and natural to use casa to refer to an animal's home or nest. If you want to be scientifically specific, the exact word for an anthill is hormiguero.
Learn La hormiga pica cuando defiende su casa and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free