Breakdown of Hay armonía siempre y cuando no invadas mi cuarto y el respeto sea mutuo.
ser
to be
y
and
no
no, not
haber
to be (there is / there are)
el cuarto
the room
mi
my
siempre
always
cuando
when (statement)
el respeto
the respect
invadir
to invade
la armonía
the harmony
mutuo
mutual
Questions & Answers about Hay armonía siempre y cuando no invadas mi cuarto y el respeto sea mutuo.
Why are the verbs invadas and sea in the subjunctive?
Both invadas and sea are in the present subjunctive because they are triggered by siempre y cuando (as long as / provided that). This phrase sets up a strict condition that must be met for the first part of the sentence (hay armonía) to be true. Expressions that set a strict requirement or proviso always force the following verbs into the subjunctive.
Does the subjunctive trigger from siempre y cuando carry over the y to affect sea?
Exactly. The conjunction y links the two requirements: "you don't invade my room" and "respect is mutual". Because both of these requirements fall under the single condition set by siempre y cuando, the subjunctive "mood" carries over, meaning both verbs must be conjugated in the subjunctive.
Could I use siempre que instead of siempre y cuando in this sentence?
Yes, you could say siempre que no invadas... and it would mean the same thing. Both trigger the subjunctive when setting a condition. Siempre y cuando is just slightly more emphatic, sounding a bit like "provided that" or "if and only if". Keep in mind that siempre que can also mean "whenever", but the context and the subjunctive verbs here make it very clear we are stating a condition rather than a habit.
Could we use an infinitive here instead of conjugated subjunctive verbs?
No, for two reasons. First, the phrase siempre y cuando always requires a conjugated verb. Second, there is a change of subject across the sentence: the first clause is impersonal (hay), the next is about you (invadas), and the last is about respect (sea). You generally only use an infinitive for conditional phrases when there is no subject change (for example, using con tal de instead of con tal de que when doing something for yourself).
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