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Apenas llegó, salió enseguida.

Apenas llegó, salió enseguida.
As soon as he arrived, he left right away.
From Lesson 272:Immediate sequence clauses (apenas)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Apenas llegó, salió enseguida.

Why do we use the indicative llegó here instead of the subjunctive?
Since this sentence describes an event that already happened in the past, we use the indicative mood (llegó). You only use the subjunctive after apenas when talking about an expected future event (for example, apenas llegue for 'as soon as he arrives').
I learned that apenas means 'barely.' Why is it translated as 'as soon as' here?
Apenas often means 'barely' or 'hardly' (like having barely enough time). However, when it is used as a time connector to introduce a sequential action like in this sentence, it translates to 'as soon as' or 'the moment that.'
Isn't it repetitive to use both apenas (as soon as) and enseguida (right away)?
It is a bit repetitive, but it is done on purpose for emphasis! Using both words highlights just how suddenly he left after arriving. You could drop enseguida and the core meaning would be exactly the same.
How do we know it means 'he' if there is no pronoun like él in the sentence?
The verb forms llegó and salió are in the third-person singular, which can mean 'he', 'she', or formal 'you' (usted). The English translation assumes 'he' based on an imagined wider context. In Spanish, subject pronouns are usually dropped if the context already makes it clear who is doing the action.

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