The Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses

You have met the subjunctive after a trigger verb - a wish, an emotion, a doubt. Adverbial clauses move the trigger onto a conjunction instead. The clause answers when, why, on what condition or despite what, and the conjunction that introduces it decides the mood.

There are two families to keep apart. One family always takes the subjunctive, no matter the sentence. The other - the time conjunctions and aunque - sits on a hinge, taking the subjunctive only when the action has not yet happened. Get that split straight and the whole area falls open.

This page assumes you can already build the forms. If llegues, venga, sepa and haya look unfamiliar, start with how to form the present subjunctive and come back.

The big idea: pending versus real

The thread running through the whole system is this. The subjunctive marks an action you are not asserting as a present fact - because it is still to come, or purely hypothetical, or set up as a condition. The indicative marks an action you are reporting as real: habitual, present or past.

Some conjunctions are locked to the subjunctive because they can only ever introduce something unasserted - a purpose, a proviso. Others swing between the two moods, and the swing is decided by a single question: has the action happened yet? If it is still pending, subjunctive. If it is a fact, indicative.

Time conjunctions: the crux of the whole page

The time conjunctions are where learners lose most marks, so slow down here. These are cuando (when), en cuanto (as soon as), hasta que (until), tan pronto como (as soon as), mientras (while, as long as) and despues de que (after).

Each of them takes the subjunctive when the event is still in the future, not yet real, and the indicative when the event is habitual or already past, a plain fact.

• Cuando llegues, llamame. (When you arrive, call me.) - you have not arrived yet, subjunctive.
• Cuando llego, siempre como. (When I arrive, I always eat.) - habitual, every time, indicative.
• Cuando llegue a casa, comi. (When I got home, I ate.) - a completed past event, indicative.

Read the three together and the rule shows itself. The mood is not attached to the word cuando; it is attached to whether the arriving is a future you are anticipating or a fact you are reporting. Anticipated future takes the subjunctive; habitual or past fact takes the indicative.

The other time conjunctions behave identically.

• En cuanto termine, te aviso. (As soon as I finish, I'll let you know.) - future, subjunctive.
• En cuanto termino, me voy. (As soon as I finish, I leave.) - habitual, indicative.
• Esperare hasta que vuelvas. (I'll wait until you come back.) - future, subjunctive.
• Trabajo hasta que cierran. (I work until they close.) - habitual, indicative.
• Tan pronto como pueda, lo hago. (As soon as I can, I'll do it.) - future, subjunctive.
• Hablaremos mientras comamos. (We'll talk while we eat.) - future, subjunctive.
• Mientras trabajo, escucho musica. (While I work, I listen to music.) - habitual, indicative.
• Despues de que llegues, empezamos. (After you arrive, we'll start.) - future, subjunctive.
• Despues de que llego, ceno. (After I arrive, I have dinner.) - habitual, indicative.

The clearest English signpost is a future or command in the main clause. Cuando llegues, llamame and en cuanto termine, te aviso both point at something that has not happened yet, and both take the subjunctive. When the sentence describes a routine or reports the past, the indicative is correct. Get this present-versus-future contrast into your bones; it is the single most tested piece of the adverbial subjunctive.

Purpose: para que and a fin de que (always, with two subjects)

The purpose conjunctions - para que and a fin de que (both meaning "so that", "in order that") - take the subjunctive every time, because a purpose is an intended result, not an asserted fact.

• Te lo digo para que lo sepas. (I'm telling you so that you know.)
• Hablo despacio para que me entiendan. (I speak slowly so that they understand me.)
• Te doy el mapa a fin de que no te pierdas. (I'm giving you the map so that you don't get lost.)

There is one condition worth flagging. Purpose clauses take the subjunctive when the two halves have different subjects - I tell you so that you know. If both halves share the same subject, Spanish drops the clause and uses para + infinitive instead: estudio para aprobar (I study in order to pass), not para que apruebe. So the subjunctive appears precisely when a second subject enters. De modo que and de manera que join this group when they express intention (so that a result is achieved) and take the subjunctive; when they simply report a result that did happen, they take the indicative - cerre la puerta, de modo que no entro el frio (I shut the door, so the cold didn't get in).

Concession: aunque (subjunctive when hypothetical, indicative when factual)

Aunque means both "although / even though" and "even if", and Spanish uses the mood to tell them apart. When the concession is a known fact, use the indicative. When it is hypothetical or unknown, use the subjunctive.

• Aunque llueve, saldremos. (Even though it is raining, we'll go out.) - the rain is a fact, indicative.
• Aunque llueva, saldremos. (Even if it rains, we'll go out.) - the rain is hypothetical, subjunctive.

The English does the same work with "even though" versus "even if". If you can see the rain out of the window and you are conceding something real, it is aunque llueve. If you are conceding a mere possibility you cannot yet confirm, it is aunque llueva. The choice is not stylistic; it changes the meaning, telling your listener whether the concession is real or supposed.

• Aunque es caro, lo compro. (Even though it's expensive, I'm buying it.) - it is expensive, fact.
• Aunque sea caro, lo compro. (Even if it's expensive, I'll buy it.) - I don't yet know the price, hypothetical.

Condition and proviso: always subjunctive

The condition conjunctions never sit on the hinge. They set up a proviso or an exception - something offered as a condition, not asserted as fact - so they take the subjunctive every time. The core set is a menos que (unless), con tal de que (provided that), en caso de que (in case), sin que (without) and siempre que in its proviso sense (as long as).

• No voy a menos que vengas. (I'm not going unless you come.)
• Lo hare con tal de que me ayudes. (I'll do it provided you help me.)
• Lleva un paraguas en caso de que llueva. (Take an umbrella in case it rains.)
• Salio sin que nadie lo viera. (He left without anyone seeing him.)
• Te presto el coche siempre que lo cuides. (I'll lend you the car as long as you look after it.)

These are hardwired. There is no indicative counterpart to hunt for; a menos que vienes and sin que nadie lo vio are simply wrong. Note that siempre que doubles as a time conjunction meaning "whenever", and in that habitual sense it takes the indicative - siempre que vengo, comemos (whenever I come, we eat). In its proviso sense (as long as, on condition that), it takes the subjunctive. The meaning tells you which.

Always subjunctive versus sometimes subjunctive

This is the table to memorise. The left column never lets you down; the right column depends on whether the action is real yet.

The left column carries a purpose or a condition, which by its nature is never asserted as present fact, so the subjunctive is automatic. The right column carries a time or a concession, which can be a real fact, so Spanish makes you choose the mood by whether the action has happened yet.

Worked examples

• Cuando termines, avisame. (When you finish, let me know.) - future, subjunctive.
• Cuando termino, me relajo. (When I finish, I relax.) - habitual, indicative.
• En cuanto llegue el tren, subimos. (As soon as the train arrives, we'll get on.) - future, subjunctive.
• No saldremos hasta que pare la lluvia. (We won't leave until the rain stops.) - future, subjunctive.
• Te llamo para que no te preocupes. (I'm calling so that you don't worry.) - purpose, subjunctive.
• Estudio para aprobar. (I study in order to pass.) - same subject, infinitive, no subjunctive.
• Aunque cueste mucho, lo comprare. (Even if it costs a lot, I'll buy it.) - hypothetical, subjunctive.
• Aunque cuesta mucho, lo compro. (Even though it costs a lot, I'm buying it.) - fact, indicative.
• No iremos a menos que nos inviten. (We won't go unless they invite us.) - condition, subjunctive.
• Cierra con llave en caso de que vuelvan. (Lock up in case they come back.) - condition, subjunctive.

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using the indicative after a future cuando. The instinct is to copy English, which says "when you arrive" with an ordinary present. Spanish does not: because the arriving is still to come, it is cuando llegues, not cuando llegas. Whenever the main clause carries a future or a command - llamame, avisare, saldremos - the time clause after cuando, en cuanto, hasta que and the rest goes into the subjunctive.

Forcing the subjunctive after a habitual cuando. The opposite error, from over-applying the rule. Cuando llego, siempre como describes a routine that really happens, so it stays indicative; cuando llegue would wrongly push it into the future. The subjunctive is only for the pending action, not the habitual one.

Getting aunque backwards. Learners often reach for the subjunctive by reflex, but aunque llueve (even though it is raining) is right when the rain is a fact. Save aunque llueva for the hypothetical "even if". Ask whether the thing you are conceding is real yet, and let that pick the mood.

Writing para que with one subject. Estudio para que apruebe is wrong when the studier and the passer are the same person; it must be estudio para aprobar. The subjunctive after para que only appears when a second subject enters - te lo explico para que apruebes.

Reaching for the indicative after the always-list. A menos que vienes and sin que lo vio copy English word order but break Spanish. A menos que, con tal de que, en caso de que and sin que are hardwired to the subjunctive: a menos que vengas, sin que lo viera. There is no fact-versus-hypothesis choice with these.

Get the always-list memorised, the pending-versus-real hinge under the time conjunctions clear, and the aunque split straight, and adverbial clauses join wishes, emotion and doubt as another fluent slice of the subjunctive. The machinery is the same; only the trigger - a conjunction now, not a verb - has changed.

See also

• How to form the present subjunctive - the endings, the yo-stem rule and the six irregulars that power llegues, venga and sepa in every sentence here.
• The subjunctive after doubt and denial - no creo que and dudo que, where the vouch-for-it logic behind the whole mood is laid out.
• Si clauses: real and unreal conditions - the other great conditional structure, and why si itself follows its own rules rather than these.
• The Spanish grammar cheatsheet has the always-subjunctive list and the pending-versus-real hinge on one card.