Breakdown of La directora no lo acepta hasta que sea válido.
ser
to be
no
no / not
lo
it / him (m)
el director
the director / the head teacher
aceptar
to accept
hasta que
until
válido
valid
Questions & Answers about La directora no lo acepta hasta que sea válido.
Why do we use the subjunctive sea here instead of the indicative es?
The phrase hasta que (until) triggers the subjunctive when it refers to an event that hasn't happened yet. Even though the main verb acepta (accepts) is in the present tense, the condition of the item being valid is still pending in the future, so we must use the present subjunctive sea.
The English translation says "until it is valid." Why does Spanish treat this as a pending future event?
In English, we often use the present tense after time words like "until" to talk about the future. Spanish is much stricter: if the event hasn't actually happened yet, time expressions like hasta que must be followed by the subjunctive to show that the outcome is still a future requirement rather than a current reality.
Why do we use a form of ser (sea) instead of estar with válido?
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