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Permalink Reply by Sam on May 14, 2008 at 1:14am

neither...

are you trying to say when I was older, I was like you?
if so it is, cuando era mayor, fui como tu

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Permalink Reply by annabelle on May 14, 2008 at 2:14am

It sounds like you're trying to say: when I'm older, I'll be like you, therefore you want to go with the second one: "Cuando serre mayor, serre como tu". "este" refers to being somewhere e.g. "este en la casa" versus "serre" refers to state of being/being somehow e.g. "serre despierto", "soy menor o mayor de edad". Ser versus estar is tricky & unique to spanish. The only similar auxiliary can be found in french, but it's still different even there.

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Permalink Reply by Dunia on May 14, 2008 at 3:29am

You don't have to double the "r" of "seré"

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Permalink Reply by Heidita on May 14, 2008 at 6:22am

Sorry, ana, this is not correct,

Go with the answer given by Dunia!!

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Permalink Reply by Dunia on May 14, 2008 at 3:28am

"Cuando sea mayor, seré como tú"

Cuando+Subjunctive (future).

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Permalink Reply by David H on May 15, 2008 at 9:32pm

How about this one for fun:

Cuando sea mayor, que yo sea como tú.

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Permalink Reply by James on May 16, 2008 at 2:05pm

I think that's grammatically correct, but it means something slightly different: When I'm older, I hope to be like you.

Actually, "I hope to be like you" would be "Espero ser como tú," and your version is more like "God grant that I am like you," although the basic meaning is the same.

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Permalink Reply by David H on May 18, 2008 at 7:59pm

You're quite right, James. My suggestion was less a translation suggestion for the op and more a tangent to show the different direction in which the second subjunctive would take the sentence. I could have been clearer, granted.

Oh, that I might be like you when I get older.

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