Breakdown of Cualquiera que lea la reforma comprenderá la economía.
leer
to read
comprender
to understand
que
that / than
la
the (feminine)
Questions & Answers about Cualquiera que lea la reforma comprenderá la economía.
Why is lea in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative lee?
The phrase cualquiera que (anyone who) is an indefinite expression. Because we aren't talking about a specific, known person who has already read the reform, the action is hypothetical. This uncertainty requires the subjunctive lea.
Could I use quienquiera que instead of cualquiera que in this sentence?
Yes, you could say quienquiera que lea la reforma. Both translate to "anyone who" or "whoever" in this context. Cualquiera que is very common and feels like "any random person," while quienquiera que is slightly more formal but works exactly the same way here.
Why doesn't cualquiera drop its final -a here? I remember learning it sometimes becomes cualquier.
Why do we use the present subjunctive lea when the result comprenderá is in the future tense?
In Spanish, clauses that talk about a hypothetical or uncompleted future event (like whoever might read this in the future) take the present subjunctive. The main clause showing the result takes the future tense. This is the standard sequence of tenses for these types of future-facing, indefinite statements.