Breakdown of Mi hermana, que vive en Madrid, viene mañana.
la hermana
the sister
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
vivir
to live
mi
my
mañana
tomorrow
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
venir
to come
Questions & Answers about Mi hermana, que vive en Madrid, viene mañana.
Why does this use vive instead of the subjunctive viva?
In relative clauses starting with que, you use the indicative mood (vive) when referring to a specific person or thing that you know exists. Because the speaker is stating a fact about their specific sister, the indicative is required. You would only use the subjunctive if you were describing a hypothetical person.
Can I use quien instead of que since we are talking about a person?
Yes, you can. Because this clause is between commas and just adds extra information, both que and quien are grammatically correct for people. However, que is much more common in everyday Spanish. Keep in mind that if you removed the commas to identify which sister you meant, you would be forced to use que.
Why use the present tense viene when the action happens mañana?
Just like in English, Spanish often uses the present tense to talk about scheduled or highly certain future events. Saying she comes tomorrow sounds very natural for a confirmed plan. You could use the future tense vendrá, but the present tense is far more common in everyday conversation for plans in the near future.
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