en cuanto

Spanish

Etymology

Compare Portuguese enquanto.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /en ˈkwanto/ [ẽŋ ˈkwãn̪.t̪o]
• Syllabification: en cuan‧to

Adverb

en cuanto

1. (with subjunctive) as soon as (immediately after)

   Synonyms: apenas, ni bien, tan pronto como

   Empezaremos en cuanto llegue.

   As soon as she comes, we will begin.

   • 2015 November 17, Carmen Pérez-Lanzac, “Las franquicias toman el centro”, in El País‎^[1]:

     En estas zonas se ha instalado una especie de fiebre de la franquicia y cada vez más empresarios lanzan sus establecimientos con la idea de crear una red en cuanto sea posible.

     In these areas, a kind of franchise fever has set in, and more and more business owners are launching their establishments with the idea of creating a network as soon as possible.

Usage notes

• When referring to future events, en cuanto is followed by the present or imperfect subjunctive. When referring to past events, en cuanto is followed by the preterite. In literary or old-fashioned Spanish, it can be used with the pretérito anterior like in the following example from 1830 (Los bandos de Castilla by Ramón López Soler)

  En cuanto hubo dicho esto fuéronse los tres barones a los muros del castillo

  Upon saying this the three gentleman went offed to the castle walls

Derived terms

• en cuanto sea posible

 

Prepositional phrase

en cuanto

1. as, while

   Synonym: mientras

2. as (in the role of)

See also

• en cuanto a

Further reading

• “en cuanto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10