Introduction
This
post deals with talking about the past
in general, and saying how
you travelled
to your home
town
in particular.
SCENARIO
Imagine
you are talking to
a relative, a friend or colleague. You are talking about past travel.
The other person
knows you travelled to your home town last
Monday
and says to you: "how
did you travel to your home town?"
In
Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:
¿Cómo
fuiste a tu pueblo?
Alternatively,
he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:
¿Cómo
fue (usted) a su pueblo?
OUR
TIP
The question is an
invitation for you to say how you went to your home town. When you
say how you did something, you DO NOT need to be
concerned about the level of formality in the other person's
question.
Here are some
examples of how you could reply:
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo en avión (on Monday I flew/ went by plane to my home town)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo en barco (on Monday I went to my home town by boat)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo en tren (on Monday I went to my home town by train)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo en autobús (on Monday I went to my home town by bus)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo en taxi (on Monday I went to my home town by taxi)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo en coche* (on Monday I went to my home town by car)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo a pie (on Monday I went to my home town on foot)
- El lunes fui a mi pueblo a caballo (on Monday I went to my home town on horseback)
Notes
Talking
about the past
Please
note that the all the examples above refer to past actions
which were completed at a time which also belongs in
the past. In other words, the period of time in which the
actions the actions in the examples were completed, i.e. last
Monday, is also in the past.
However,
sometimes you may wish to talk about past actions which were
completed at a time which in Spanish belongs in the
present. In other words, the period of time in which the
actions were completed is still ongoing. Examples of periods
of time which in Spanish belong in the present are: today/
this week/ this month/ this year/ etc. In such
cases, it is common to use an alternative form of referring to
completed actions, as follows:
- Hoy he ido a mi pueblo en taxi (today I went to my home town by taxi)
- Esta semana he ido a mi pueblo en autobús (this week I went to my home town by bus)
- Este mes no he ido a mi pueblo en tren (this month I didn't go to my home town on the train)
*In some parts of the
Spanish-speaking world, the terms “carro” or “auto”
may be used instead.
Now
you should practise answering the question:
¿Cómo
fuiste a tu pueblo?
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Copyright 2012 Love-Spanish.com
by Jose M González. All Rights Reserved.
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