cuando + subjunctive

Question

How would you say "We are saving money for when we are old"?Answer : estamos ahorrando dinero para cuando seamos viejos
Can you clarify rules please. I thought cuando + subjunctive was used for something that would happen therefore you needed a future tense or an imperative and not a continuous present as in estamos ahorrandothanks julie

Answer

Julie, there are two main parts to this statement.

PRESENT: we are saving money - estamos ahorrando dinero

CONNECTOR: for - para

FUTURE: when we are old - cuando seamos viejos

As you can see, the continuous present is used in the PRESENT part because it is what they are doing now, and not in the FUTURE part.

Answer

Thank you for answering but í am still confused - I'll try to explain

i thought if you used the present tense then you didn't use the subjunctive after cuando

estamos ahorrando dinero para cuando somos viejos

In the sentence below the going on holidays to Tenerife really happens.

my point being getting old really happens

Cuando voy de vacaciones a Tenerife me hospedo en el hotel Olimpia.When I go on holiday to Tenerife I stay at the hotel Olimpia.

Could it not be

estamos ahorrando dinero para cuando seremos viejos

Am I just going to have to learn this variation?

many thanks in advance

julie

Answer

Marcosi'm an idiot!!I get it now - so sorry for being dumb. I blame my old age

Answer

Just want to point out:

"Cuando voy de vacaciones a Tenerife me hospedo en el hotel Olimpia." refers to a repeated action that happens regularly.

So it's a different case than the future expression "cuando seremos viejos". In this latter case, we know it's going to happen, but it still hasn't happened yet.