El enfermero va a ingresar a los pacientes conforme lleguen al hospital.

Questions & Answers about El enfermero va a ingresar a los pacientes conforme lleguen al hospital.

Why is lleguen in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative llegan?
The word conforme (meaning "as" or "in the way that") introduces an action that hasn't happened yet. Because the patients' arrival is in the future and the exact timing is unknown, Spanish requires the subjunctive lleguen. If this sentence were describing a routine that already happens, you would use the indicative llegan.
Could I use según or como instead of conforme in this sentence?
Yes, you could use según lleguen or como lleguen. All three can express "as" or "depending on how" an event unfolds. Conforme is a great choice here because it naturally emphasizes a progressive sequence, meaning they will be admitted one by one in accordance with their arrival.
I usually see ingresar translated as "to enter." Why does it mean "to admit" here?
While ingresar often means "to enter" (like entering a building or logging into a website), in medical contexts it is the standard verb for "to admit" a patient to a hospital. Since the nurse is performing this action on the patients, it functions transitively as "to admit."
Why is there an a before los pacientes?
This is the "personal a." Even though the patients are the direct object of the verb ingresar (they are the ones receiving the action of being admitted), Spanish requires you to put an a before a direct object when it refers to specific people.

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