donde fueres haz lo que vieres

Proverbs with Future Subjunctive

Level 6

The idiom 'donde fueres, haz lo que vieres' is the Spanish equivalent of 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' It preserves the archaic future subjunctive tense (fueres, vieres).

How It Works

A Current Proverb with Older Verb Forms
Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres advises adapting to local customs, like “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It can still be quoted in conversation.

Read the Three Parts

  • Donde fueres: wherever you may go. Fueres is the future subjunctive of ir here; ser shares the form but not this meaning.
  • Haz: do, an affirmative tú command of hacer.
  • Lo que vieres: what you may see, referring to the practices you observe.

Recognize the Formation
Fueron minus -ron gives fue-; adding -res gives fueres. Vieron gives vie- + -res → vieres. These are second-person singular future subjunctive forms.

A Modern Paraphrase
Donde vayas, haz lo que veas uses present subjunctive in the place-relative and lo que clauses. It conveys the advice without implying that the traditional proverb has disappeared. Other versions of the proverb also exist, so a wording difference alone is not a grammatical error.

Examples (3)

  1. Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres.

    When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

    Word by Word: Where you may go, do what you may see.

    The classic proverb advising adaptation to local customs wherever you are.

  2. Si viajas a otro país, recuerda el refrán: donde fueres, haz lo que vieres.

    If you travel to another country, remember the saying: when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

    Word by Word: If you travel to another country, remember the proverb: where you may go, do what you may see.

    Using the proverb in context when speaking about cultural adaptation.

  3. El refrán «Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres» sigue usándose hoy; podemos explicarlo como «Donde vayas, haz lo que veas».

    The saying “Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres” is still used today; we can explain it as “Donde vayas, haz lo que veas.”

    Word by Word: The proverb “wherever you may go, do what you may see” continues to be used today; we can explain it with present subjunctive forms.

    The current proverb preserves older forms; the present subjunctive gives a modern paraphrase, not a claim that the original is obsolete.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the infinitive instead of the affirmative tú command in the proverb.

    Donde fueres, hacer lo que vieres.
    Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres.

    To address one person with this affirmative command, use haz. Hacer is the infinitive and does not supply the proverb’s command.

  • Reading fueres here as a past-tense form.

    Fueres significa «fuiste» en este refrán.
    Fueres significa «vayas» en este refrán.

    Fueres is future subjunctive, not preterite fuiste. In this proverb about wherever you may go, modern vayas gives the relevant paraphrase.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

donde fueres haz lo que vieresLevel 6Proverbs with Future Subjunctive

Learn This First

This traditional proverb requires knowledge of the archaic future subjunctive (fueres, vieres), the use of the neuter relative pronoun 'lo que', and the irregular imperative 'haz'. While the future subjunctive is rare in modern speech, it is preserved in fixed expressions like this one.

Words in This Pattern

donde fueres haz lo que vieres