Question 1

Why is escuchamos in the indicative instead of the subjunctive here?

Accepted Answer

Because the action already happened. When you use apenas (as soon as) to talk about a completed past event or a habitual action, it takes the indicative. If you were talking about an anticipated future event, like "As soon as we hear the alarm tomorrow", you would use the subjunctive (escuchemos).

Question 2

Escuchamos, seguimos, and buscamos can be both present and past tense. How do we know which one it is here?

Accepted Answer

You are right that for the nosotros (we) form, the present and past (preterite) forms of regular -ar and -ir verbs are exactly the same. We rely entirely on context to know this sentence means "we heard", "we followed", and "we looked". This past-tense context is also what tells us to use the indicative after apenas.

Question 3

Could apenas mean "barely" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Not in this context. While apenas often means "barely" or "hardly" (like apenas comí, meaning "I barely ate"), here it acts as a time conjunction meaning "as soon as". You can tell because it introduces a completed action that immediately triggers the next actions.

Question 4

Why is it buscamos la salida and not buscamos por la salida?

Accepted Answer

The verb buscar means "to look for" all by itself. It already has the "for" built into its meaning. Adding por or para after buscar is a very common mistake for English speakers, so remember to link the verb directly to the object you are seeking.

Apenas escuchamos la alarma, seguimos el protocolo y buscamos la salida.

Breakdown of Apenas escuchamos la alarma, seguimos el protocolo y buscamos la salida.

Questions & Answers about Apenas escuchamos la alarma, seguimos el protocolo y buscamos la salida.

Learn Apenas escuchamos la alarma, seguimos el protocolo y buscamos la salida and more in Spanish