Mientras tanto and entretanto
Mientras joins two actions inside one sentence (Mientras cocino, escucho la radio). Mientras tanto usually stands on its own, often at the start of a second sentence: meanwhile, in the meantime.
| You set the table; meanwhile, I'll finish dinner. | Tú pon la mesa; mientras tanto, yo termino la cena. |
Two people, two jobs, one moment.
| The plumber arrives tomorrow; meanwhile, don't use the shower. | El fontanero llega mañana; mientras tanto, no uses la ducha. |
Here it covers the wait until something happens: until then.
Entretanto means the same but is more formal: you meet it mostly in writing and on the news. Mientras tanto is the everyday word.
| The government is studying the law; meanwhile, prices keep going up. | El Gobierno estudia la ley; entretanto, los precios siguen subiendo. |
Al mismo tiempo que
Al mismo tiempo que + a verb: two things happen at once, often done by the same person. It also works before a noun.
| My daughter studies at the same time as she works. | Mi hija estudia al mismo tiempo que trabaja. |
One person, two activities in the same period.
| We arrived at the same time as the train. | Llegamos al mismo tiempo que el tren. |
Before a noun there is no second verb.
Justo cuando
Justo cuando drops one event into the middle of another: the background usually in the imperfect, the interruption in the preterite.
| Just as I was leaving the house, the phone rang. | Justo cuando salía de casa, sonó el teléfono. |
Salía is the background, sonó the interruption.
| Just when we were about to have dinner, the power went out. | Justo cuando íbamos a cenar, se fue la luz. |
Íbamos a cenar is what was about to happen when the power went out.
Until … ago: hasta hace
| sentence | meaning |
|---|---|
| No trabaja desde hace un año. | for a year, and still true |
| Trabajaba hasta hace un año. | until a year ago, not any more |
| Until two years ago I lived in Madrid. | Hasta hace dos años vivía en Madrid. |
The imperfect describes how things were up to that point; now they are different.
| Until recently I couldn't swim. | Hasta hace poco no sabía nadar. |
Hasta hace poco is the everyday until recently.
