Breakdown of En cuanto compre el peine, me peinaré.
comprar
to buy
peinarse
to comb one's hair
en cuanto
as soon as (two words)
el peine
the comb
Questions & Answers about En cuanto compre el peine, me peinaré.
Why is compre in the subjunctive here?
The phrase en cuanto means 'as soon as'. When time expressions like this refer to an anticipated future event that hasn't happened yet, they trigger the subjunctive. Because you haven't bought the comb yet, we use the present subjunctive compre.
Would the indicative ever be used with en cuanto?
Yes! If you are talking about a habitual action in the present or a completed action in the past, you use the indicative. For example, 'As soon as I buy a comb, I always lose it' would be En cuanto compro un peine, siempre lo pierdo.
Could I use tan pronto como instead of en cuanto?
Yes, tan pronto como is a perfect synonym for en cuanto here. You would still need the subjunctive to express the future action, making it Tan pronto como compre el peine.
Why do we need the me before peinaré?
Because you are performing the action on yourself. In Spanish, grooming verbs like peinarse (to comb one's hair) are reflexive. If you were combing a dog's hair or a child's hair, you would use the non-reflexive verb peinar instead.
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