Question 1

Why is lleguen in the subjunctive rather than the indicative llegan?

Accepted Answer

The word apenas means 'as soon as' here. When a time word like apenas introduces an action that hasn't happened yet (a future event), Spanish requires the subjunctive. Since you haven't arrived yet, lleguen must be in the present subjunctive.

Question 2

What would it mean if I used the indicative and said apenas llegan aquí?

Accepted Answer

If you use the indicative after apenas, it describes a habitual action or a completed fact. So, apenas llegan aquí would mean 'as soon as you (usually) arrive here.' That wouldn't make sense with the first part of the sentence giving a direct instruction about a specific future event.

Question 3

How do we know who Deben and lleguen refer to? The translation says 'You' but the verb endings look like 'they'.

Accepted Answer

In Latin America, the pronoun ustedes is used for the plural 'you' in both formal and informal situations. Ustedes always takes the same verb endings as ellos and ellas. The context and the English translation tell us this sentence is addressed directly to a group of people.

Question 4

I thought apenas meant 'barely' or 'hardly.' How do I know it means 'as soon as' here?

Accepted Answer

It can mean both! When used to describe an amount or intensity, it means 'barely' (like apenas dormí, meaning 'I barely slept'). But when it connects two actions to show the timing between them, like empezar and lleguen, it translates to 'as soon as' or 'right after.'

Deben empezar el protocolo apenas lleguen aquí.

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