Love-Spanish.com: Tell Me, What Did You Use To Do In The Past?

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. Perhaps you are talking about things you used to do in the past. Perhaps you have recently made some changes to your life. The other person wants to find out things you used to do (and maybe you don't do now). He/ she decides to say to you something like: "tell me, what did you use to do in the past?".

In Spanish, he/ she could choose to be less formal and say to you:

Dime, ¿qué hacías antes?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:

Dígame, ¿qué hacía (usted) antes?

OUR TIP

You could think of the question you are asked as a typical prompt to talk about things you habitually did do in the past. When talking about what you used to do in the past, you DO NOT need to be concerned about levels of formality. You just need to concentrate on talking about past habitual actions. In this case, perhaps you want to say that in the past, you used to:

Do something everyday.
Do something on certain days.
Do something on a particular day.
Do something with a given frequency.
Not do something on certain days.
Not do something ever.

Here are some examples of how you would say what you used to do in the past:

Antes escribía algo todos los días* (in the past, I used to write something everyday).
Antes madrugaba mucho de lunes a viernes* (in the past, I used to get up very early Monday to Friday).
Antes jugaba a tenis los sábados* (in the past, I used to play tennis on Saturdays).
Antes iba al cine al menos dos veces al mes* (in the past, I used to go to the cinema at least twice monthly).
Antes tenía vacaciones en el verano* (in the past, I used to have my holidays in the summer).
Antes no trabajaba los fines de semana* (in the past, I used to not work weekends).
Antes nunca comía pescado (in the past, I used to never eat fish).

Now you should practice talking about the past to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿qué hacías antes?

*Please see grammar below

Grammar-The Imperfect

These are examples of expressions using the imperfect to talk about the past. Remember that in Spanish we use the imperfect in the following situations:

1. When talking about habitual ongoing actions in the past. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Antes me gustaba jugar a tenis (I used to like playing tennis).
Tú casi nunca madrugabas (you almost never got up early).
Pedro tenía muchos amigos (Pedro used to have many friends).
Siempre estábamos contentos (we used to be always happy).
A veces llegábais tarde (sometimes, you -plural were late).
Mis compañeros de trabajo apenas me conocían (my work colleagues hardly knew me).

2. When talking about repeated ongoing events in the past. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Yo iba a la playa lo domingos* (on Sundays I used to go to the beach).
Todos los días te levantabas temprano (you used to get up early everyday).
Pedro trabajaba de lunes a viernes (Pedro used to work from Monday to Friday).
Nos gustaba ir a nadar los lunes (we liked going swimming on Mondays).
Los fines de semana íbais al campo (you -plural used to go to the countryside at the weekends).
Mis amigos venían a visitarme una vez a la semana (my friends used to come to visit once a week).

3. When describing the past. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Yo era amigo de Sofía (I was Sofía's friend).
Tú eras muy joven (you were very young) .
Mi coche era nuevo (my car was new).
Éramos como hermanos (we were like brothers).
Erais compañeros de trabajo de mi hermano (you -plural were work colleagues of my brother).
Mis padres eran muy mayores (my parents were very old).

4. When talking about ongoing past actions which were occurring at the same time as a completed action. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

Yo comía cuando me llamaste (I was eating when you called).
Dormías cuando llegamos (you were sleeping when we arrived) .
Llovía cuando salí (it was raining when I left).
Llegabamos a Barcelona cuando amaneció (we were arriving in Barcelona when dawn broke).
Cuando os ví, salíais del bar (when I saw you -plural you were leaving the bar).
Cuando llegamos, mis padres salían (when we arrived, my parents were leaving).

5. When asking someone directly, what would you like?/ how can I help you? When replying to that type of question indicating, what I/ we would like/ are looking for. Some examples of expressions of this type are:

¿Qué querías? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you?).
¿Qué quería (usted)? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you?).
¿Qué queríais? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you? - you plural).
¿Qué querían (ustedes)? (what would you like?/ what are you looking for?/ how can I help you? -you plural).
Quería una lata de sardinas (I wanted/ I am looking for/ could I have a tin of sardines?).
Queríamos una habitación doble (we wanted/ we are looking for/ could we have a double room?).

Now you should practice using the imperfect with some examples of your own.

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