en cuanto
conjunctionCEFR B1
What does “en cuanto” mean in English?
as soon as
as soon as (en cuanto + subjunctive when future; + indicative when past/habitual)
Example sentences
En cuanto llegue al hotel, os mando un mensaje para que sepáis que he llegado bien.
As soon as I get to the hotel, I'll send you a message so you know I've arrived safely.
En cuanto llegué al hotel, vi que habían cometido un error con mi reserva.
As soon as I arrived at the hotel, I saw that they had made an error with my booking.
En cuanto a la propuesta que presentaste ayer, creo que hay varios puntos que mejorar.
As for the proposal you presented yesterday, I think there are several points to improve.
How to use it
En cuanto means 'as soon as' as a temporal conjunction. Like hasta que and después de que, it takes subjunctive when the event is in the future and indicative when it is a completed past or habitual event: 'En cuanto llegue, te llamo' (future → subjunctive) vs 'En cuanto llegué, te llamé' (past → indicative). Note: en cuanto a (with the preposition a) has a completely different meaning — 'as for / regarding' — and does not trigger subjunctive.
Common mistake
En cuanto (as soon as, temporal) vs en cuanto a (as for, topic marker) — same form, completely different function. Only the temporal en cuanto triggers subjunctive for future events. Also: en cuanto + subjunctive is required for any future-referring 'as soon as' clause — even when the main clause is present tense.