Complete Spanish

Track 73

1. que alone for third-person commands Rule

Commands work with you and we, but to say what you want a third person to do, you can drop the whole quiero que and just start with que.

Que espere. (let him wait)

Que termine · Que termine ya (let it finish already) · Que se calle (let him shut up)

It is softer than telling somebody directly: not angry enough to say it to their face, so you say let them.

2. cuando plus the future takes the mood tense Rule

After cuando, if you mean generally, use the present. If you are referring to a future event, use the mood tense.

cuando comemos juntos
when we eat together, generally
cuando comamos juntos
when we eat together, a future occasion

Cuando hablamos / Cuando hablemos · La vemos cuando vamos / La vemos cuando vayamos

The rest of the sentence stays in the plain present, because when we eat together is already future context.

A lovely reading of why: the language is uncomfortable stating something that has not happened yet as a fact. The mood tense flags that subjectivity. Who are we, as mere mortals, to speak of a future event as fact?

3. The mood tense of ir Grammar

As you would expect from a verb this irregular, it has its own root: vaya.

vaya
I, he, she, it, you (formal) go
vayan
they, you (plural) go
vayamos
we go

La vemos cuando vayamos

4. Two ways to say "let's" Note

Both work, with a difference in force.

esperemos
let's wait: an order
¿esperamos?
shall we wait?

No esperemos (let's not wait)

5. Recap: the informal positive shortcut Rule

esperar → esperas → espera

Find the informal you form, cut the s, and you have the order without touching the mood tense.

6. Process the word, do not just take it Method

Reaching for together, the student recalls the English phrase "military junta" and offers junta. The route is good, but the form still needs work: it has to agree with who is eating.

Cuando comemos juntas (two females) · Cuando comemos juntos (male or mixed)

Finding a word through a hook gets you the stem. You are not just going to take it, you are going to have to process it as well.