Breakdown of ¿Qué planeas hacer cuando te jubiles, mamá?
qué
what
hacer
to do, to make
cuando
when (not in questions)
la mamá
the mom
planear
to plan
jubilarse
to retire
Questions & Answers about ¿Qué planeas hacer cuando te jubiles, mamá?
Why is jubiles in the subjunctive here?
This sentence is a perfect example of the current lesson! Because the retirement hasn't happened yet, it is an anticipated future event. After time words like cuando, Spanish requires the subjunctive for events that haven't occurred. If you were talking about a recurring habit, you would use the indicative, but for a future 'when', you must use the subjunctive.
Why is there a te before jubiles?
The verb for 'to retire' from work is jubilarse, which is a reflexive verb. The pronoun te matches the tú form of the verb (jubiles). If it weren't reflexive, jubilar would mean 'to pension off' someone else or 'to discard' something.
The speaker is talking to their mother but uses the informal tú forms (planeas, te jubiles). Is that normal in Spain?
Yes! In Spain, it is standard and completely respectful to use the informal tú with your parents and grandparents. Using usted with family members would sound very distant or old-fashioned in Spain, even though it is common in some parts of Latin America.
Could I use piensas instead of planeas to say 'plan to do'?
Absolutely. ¿Qué piensas hacer? and ¿Qué planeas hacer? are almost entirely interchangeable in this context. Using the verb pensar followed by an infinitive is a very common, natural way to express 'to intend' or 'to plan' to do something in everyday Spanish.
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