Breakdown of Una vez que termines, avísame.
terminar
to finish / to end
avisar
to notify / to warn
una vez que
once, as soon as
Questions & Answers about Una vez que termines, avísame.
Why is termines in the subjunctive here?
In Spanish, temporal phrases (like una vez que, en cuanto, or apenas) use the subjunctive when they refer to an event that hasn't happened yet. Because the finishing will happen in the future, it requires the subjunctive termines. If this were a habitual action like 'Once you finish, you usually leave', you would use the indicative.
Does una vez que work exactly like en cuanto or apenas?
Grammatically, yes. They all trigger the subjunctive when referring to the future. Meaning-wise, una vez que (once) is slightly less urgent than en cuanto, apenas, or tan pronto como (which all mean 'as soon as'), but they are often used interchangeably.
Can I say una vez termines without the que?
Yes, in spoken Latin American Spanish, it is very common to drop the que and simply say una vez termines. However, una vez que is the more standard and grammatically complete form, especially in writing.
I learned that avisar means 'to warn'. Why is it translated as 'let me know'?
While avisar can mean 'to warn', in everyday Latin American Spanish it is the most common way to say 'to let someone know' or 'to notify'. When someone says avísame, they almost always just mean 'let me know'.
Why does avísame have an accent mark?
The word avísame combines the affirmative command avisa with the object pronoun me. Attaching a pronoun adds a syllable to the end of the word. To keep the natural spoken stress on the same syllable it had in the original command (the vi in avisa), you must add a written accent mark.
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