Breakdown of En cuanto llegues, vamos a empezar la rutina cotidiana.
ir
to go
a
to
llegar
to arrive
empezar
to start / to begin
la rutina
the routine
en cuanto
as soon as
cotidiano
everyday
Questions & Answers about En cuanto llegues, vamos a empezar la rutina cotidiana.
Why is llegues in the subjunctive here?
Because en cuanto (as soon as) introduces an action that hasn't happened yet. When temporal phrases like en cuanto, apenas, or tan pronto como refer to an anticipated future event, they must be followed by the subjunctive.
Would it ever be correct to say en cuanto llegas in the present indicative?
Yes, but only if you are talking about a habit. If you say En cuanto llegas, empezamos la rutina, it means 'As soon as you arrive, we (always) start the routine.' Because this sentence is about one specific future arrival, the subjunctive llegues is required.
Could I use the future tense empezaremos instead of vamos a empezar?
Absolutely. En cuanto llegues, empezaremos is grammatically correct. However, in everyday Latin American Spanish, the 'going to' future (ir + a + infinitive) is heavily preferred in spoken language for actions that are planned or about to happen.
What does cotidiana add that diaria wouldn't?
Both words translate to 'daily', but cotidiana specifically highlights the 'everyday', ordinary, or habitual nature of the routine. Diaria is a bit more literal, simply meaning that the event occurs once a day.
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